Wyss Campaign for Nature’s Continued Commitment to Conservation and Wildlife in Africa

Located in southern Africa and home to 18 million people, Zambia once had the third largest black rhino population in Africa. But illegal poaching over the decades caused a precipitous decline in their population. By 1998, black rhinos in Zambia were declared extinct.

The North Luangwa Conservation Programme, a partnership of Wyss Foundation grantee Frankfurt Zoological Society and the Zambian Department of National Parks and Wildlife, began reintroducing black rhinos to Zambia in 2003 and, over the ensuing two decades, has successfully established a breeding population in North Luangwa National Park.

Since 2015, the Wyss Foundation has helped support this work by providing nearly $6.2 million to sustain Frankfurt Zoological Society’s co-management of North Luangwa and promote the conservation of black rhinos. Continued funding for North Luangwa National Park and rhino conservation efforts will be made possible through a partnership between the Wyss Foundation and Legacy Landscapes Fund. Legacy Landscapes Fund is an innovative, private/public partnership that is mobilizing critically-needed resources to sustain conservation and management of some of the world’s most ecologically important landscapes, including North Luangwa. Together, the Wyss Foundation and Legacy Landscapes Fund will provide a combined total of $15 million to Frankfurt Zoological Society over the next 15 years. This partnership helps ensure continued protection of Zambia’s only population of black rhinos.

With a decrease in African elephants from over 10 million a century ago to approximately 350,000 today, and fewer than 25,000 rhinos remaining, restoring Africa’s wildlife is vital but difficult conservation work that requires a long-term commitment of funding. Take the reintroduction and management of black rhinos at North Luangwa National Park, which remain under severe threat from the illegal rhino horn trade and are a target species for poachers and criminal cartels. Just last year, a young black rhino broke out from within the protected area in North Luangwa and settled 136 miles (220 km) away. Without the protection afforded by the park, the rhino’s life was at significant risk from poachers, so North Luangwa Conservation Programme and its partners initiated a complicated effort to return the rhino safely to the park.

Escaped black rhino en route back to safety in North Luangwa National Park

Due to limited road access and the impending rainy season, it was determined that “slinging” the young rhino and transporting it via helicopter was the best option, even though this had never been attempted over such a long distance. After months of planning, the rhino was successfully located, sedated, and helicoptered back to North Luangwa. The trip involved three stops for refueling and vet checks, including one at the Nabwalya Chiefdom, where the local community provided support and assistance to the vet team. The journey that normally would have taken 36 hours by truck, only took four hours.

The rhino has now been safely released back into the rhino conservation area in North Luangwa and has been named in honor of Park Ranger Dexter Chilunda, who was murdered by poachers after working for more than 20 years in North Luangwa.

This ambitious rescue is just one example of how our partners in Africa are working day and night to protect critically endangered species in Zambia and across Africa.

The Wyss Foundation’s conservation initiatives in Africa, including support to Frankfurt Zoological Society and partnership with Legacy Landscapes Fund, is core to its broader goals under the Wyss Campaign for Nature, a 10-year, $1.5 billion commitment by Hansjörg Wyss – Chairman and Founder of the Wyss Foundation – to accelerate the pace and scale of conservation globally. Only by supporting local communities in their efforts to safeguard resources, protect wildlife, and secure economic opportunities do we stand a chance at meeting the global challenge to conserve and effectively manage at least 30 percent of the planet’s lands and ocean by 2030.