Rhinos in Akagera national park is among the big 5 mammals that can be seen in this wildlife savannah park alongside lions, leopards, buffaloes, and elephants. 18 black rhinos were introduced to Akagera national park from south Africa making Akagera officially a big 5 park again after so many years.  These black rhinos were received from south Africa transferred to Akagera national park from Kigali international airport. It was believed that the introduction of these black rhinos in Akagera national park would help in boosting the wildlife tourism in the country of Rwanda for tourists interested in Rwanda safaris because of the increase in animal diversity.

The introduction of rhinos in Akagera national park of Rwanda made the park home to big 5 mammals which are now lions, rhinos, elephants, buffaloes, and leopards. It’s said that there used to be rhinos roaring in the plains of Akagera national park way back in the 1970s but because of increased poaching and human encroachment, they were all killed. The last rhinos in the park were seen in 2007 but they also later became extinct. Akagera national park since 2007 has been managed by African Parks that has made a good job transforming the park and helping in growing the tourism numbers. African parks have been working tirelessly in preparing a well-trained rhino tracking team together with an anti-poaching canine team. They have also got a helicopter to do the aerial surveillance at different times of the day.

The good news is that some 3 female and 2 male eastern black rhinos were released into the bomas in Akagera national park in June 2019 with an aim of increasing the genetic diversity of the park’s population of rhinos and aiding efforts to restore the endangered species in the country of Rwanda and the region.

Tourism in Akagera national park is the major contribution to sustaining the success of the conservation of the park and the efforts required in protecting rhinos in Rwanda and many threatened animal species. For this reason, we encourage you to visit Rwanda not only to see rhinos but other desired primates among which include mountain gorillas in volcanoes national park and chimpanzees in Nyungwe forest national park.