Intimacy in the Place of Plenty

Mombo Island's isolation and variety of suitable vegetation makes the area ideal for delicate reintroduction projects. Collaborative conservation efforts between Wilderness Safaris, Botswana's Department of Wildlife (DWNP) and the Botswana Government have realised a dream with the successful reintroduction of the white and black rhino here.

Mombo and Little Mombo Camps are integrally involved in the Botswana Rhino Reintroduction Project. In 2001, Wilderness Safaris, together with Botswana's Department of Wildlife, initiated a programme that has resulted in white rhino running free and wild in the Okavango Delta once more.

The first group of four white rhino arrived at Mombo in November 2001, with Wilderness Safaris also financing the construction of bomas; and much of the transport and the monitoring costs. A further 22 rhino arrived as a result of an innovative 'rhino-for-roan' swap between South Africa and Botswana.

The ultimate accolade, though, has come from the rhino themselves. In August 2004, the first white rhino calf was born in the wild in Mombo, 16 months after its mother was released in 2001. Since then, the steady birth rate more than indicates the success of the programme.

This is a project of the Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust; read more: Botswana Rhino Relocation and Reintroduction Project