Manyoni Private Game Reserve

About Manyoni Private Game Reserve

Previously known as the Zululand Rhino Reserve, Manyoni Private Game Reserve in Zululand is home to a significant black rhino population.

Did you know? Manyoni Private Game Reserve means the “place of birds” in isiZulu and is apt to describe this unique reserve, nestled in the heart of Zululand.

The Manyoni Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, was created in 1995 in a strategic partnership between the World Wildlife Fund, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and property owners, to provide a haven for the fast dwindling black rhino population. This has culminated in the creation and preservation of 23 000ha of unique habitat that is fast disappearing in the rest of Africa.

The founder population introduced into the reserve will form a breeding pool from which the black rhino, which is 1 of the 10 most endangered mammals in the world, can recover and increase in number.

The Manyoni reserve has been declared an international site of ecological significance not only due to the Black rhino population but due to the other unique species of birds, insects and plants that occur in the reserve.

The Rhino reserve is home to a wide variety of animal species including black and white rhinoceros, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, nyala, blue wildebeest, warthog, impala, kudu and other smaller antelope. Rare species occurring in the reserve are hyaena, suni and leopard.

The aim of the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project is to increase numbers of black rhino by increasing the land available for their conservation, thus reducing pressure on existing reserves and providing new territory in which they can breed up quickly.

Black rhino, which used to be the most numerous rhino species in the world, became critically endangered following a catastrophic poaching wave in the 1970s and 1980s which wiped out 96% of Africa's wild black rhino population in just 20 years. At the lowest point, there were just 2500 black rhino left. Thanks to intensive protection efforts by organizations like Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, that number has gradually increased to around 3600.

Security is one part of the solution. The other part is ensuring that black rhino numbers keep increasing. This project is a bold move aimed at stimulating rapid population growth of the critically endangered species.