In June this year, nine months after they were herded into trucks and driven some 400 miles (644 kilometers) to an acclimatization zone on South Africa’s southeast coast, 70 southern white rhinos began a 58-hour journey to Rwanda.
It wasn’t a simple process. The animals were first darted with tranquilizers and driven for two and a half hours to Durban’s international airport. From there they were transported on two Boeing 747 flights, three days apart. After arriving at Akagera National Park, in eastern Rwanda, the rhinos were placed in large enclosures, from which they will be released when park officials are confident they’ve gotten used to their new environment.