Kidepo Valley National Park sits in the far northeastern corner of Uganda, a remote and rugged stretch of savannah that many wildlife experts regard as one of Africa's most spectacular and least-visited wild spaces. Rhinos once roamed here freely. By 1983, the last one had been shot by poachers. For four decades, the park's grasslands were missing a species that had shaped them for millennia.
On March 17, 2026, that changed. Two southern white rhinos — bred and raised at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in central Uganda — were loaded into crates, transported more than 400 kilometres (250 miles) north, and released into a specially prepared sanctuary within Kidepo. Eight rhinos in total are planned for this first phase of reintroduction. Sixteen further animals are expected to follow in the coming months.
The reintroduction marks the result of a patient, decades-long effort. Uganda's rhinos were not just depleted — they were completely eliminated from the wild during a period of intense poaching and national instability in the late 1970s and 1980s. Recovery began in 2005 with the establishment of the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, run in partnership between the Ugandan government and private conservation groups. The recent addition of eight rhinos from South Africa — to strengthen genetic diversity — has helped bring Uganda's total rhino population to 61 animals, for the first time creating a large enough pool to begin restoring animals to their historical range.
Kidepo is the first site to receive rhinos. Conservationists have already identified Murchison Falls National Park — which had its own rhino population until the early 1980s — as a future candidate, along with other protected areas. The reintroduction was supported by the Uganda Wildlife Authority in partnership with Wild Landscapes East Africa, the Northern Rangelands Trust, and the Uganda Conservation Foundation.