AN “absolutely delightful” black rhino from a zoo in North Yorkshire has embarked on an “epic journey” to Africa where she will be released into the wild as part of a conservation project. Eight-year-old Chanua’s departure from Flamingo Land, in Kirby Misperton, near Malton, on Wednesday afternoon was said to have gone “very smoothly”. Staff at the zoo said it had been an “emotional 24 hours” as they said goodbye to the critically endangered animal they have looked after for the past four years. Chanua will travel to Kent, where she will be introduced to two other female rhinos, before being taken by air to Tanzania – the home of Flamingo Land’s Udzungwa Forest Project.
Chanua will spend a month getting accustomed to her new diet Pic: Bruce Rollinson
For the second time in two years Flamingo Land is contributing to global efforts to increase the world black rhino population.
The release of gentle giant, Chanua, comes after three-year-old Olmoti travelled to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park last summer.
Eight-year-old Chanua, who is now of breeding age, was selected on the basis of her blood groupings by the stud book keeper for all rhino collections in the UK.
Chanua had been at Flamingo Land since 2015. Pic: Bruce Rollinson
She will be transported by plane on a 12-hour flight to Udzungwa Forest Project, Tanzania. Once she has arrived, she will spend around a month getting used to local food before she is released.
Emotional farewell to Flamingo Land s rare black rhino Chanua as she sets off from Yorkshire for wilds of Tanzania yorkshirepost.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yorkshirepost.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Chanua was born at Chester Zoo in 2012 before being moved to Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire three years later, and will now fly 7000 miles to live in the wild!