NGO buys world's largest rhino farm

JOHANNESBURG — The largest rhino farm in the world, which is home to 2,000 animals and located in South Africa, has been bought by African Parks, the NGO said on Monday.

Home to nearly 80 percent of the world's rhinoceroses, South Africa is a poaching hot spot, driven by demand from Asia, where its horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effect.

The South African government said 448 of the rare animals were killed across the country last year, only three fewer than in 2021 despite increased protection at national parks such as the renowned Kruger.

"African Parks has stepped in as the new owner of the world's largest private captive rhino breeding operation," the conservation NGO said in a statement.

The nonprofit will take over the 7,800-hectare "Platinum Rhino" site in the North West Province, which it said is home to 15 percent of the world's remaining wild population of southern white rhino.

The rhino farm was previously owned by 81-year-old South African conservationist John Hume, who auctioned the property earlier this year.

Although Hume said he was looking for a "billionaire" to take over the farm, African Parks said no offers were received, leaving the rhinos at "serious risk of poaching".

The NGO said it received support from the South African government.

Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks, said it had "no intention of being the owner of a captive rhino breeding operation with 2,000 rhinos".

"However, we fully recognize the moral imperative of finding a solution for these animals so that they can once again play their integral role in fully functioning ecosystems," he said, describing the scale of the operation as "simply enormous, and therefore daunting".

"However, it is equally one of the most exciting and globally strategic conservation opportunities," he said in the press statement.

African Parks, which manages 22 protected areas across the continent, said it plans to phase out the breeding program and return the 2,000 southern white rhinos to the wild over the next 10 years.

The species was hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century, but gradually recovered due to decades of protection and breeding efforts.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said the move was a "lifeline thrown to a near-threatened species".

Poachers have increasingly targeted privately owned reserves in their hunt for horns, which consist mainly of hard keratin, the same substance found in human nails.

Agencies Via Xinhua