Successes
What goes into Rewilding Animals?
Embracing an innovative approach, we rewild animals born or bred in captivity. Every animal deserves a chance to thrive in its natural habitat.
Habitat Preparation
Prior to reintroduction, we ensure that the chosen habitats are well-suited for the species. This includes potential habitat restoration and ensuring the availability of adequate food, water, space, monitoring, and long-term management.
Health & Behaviour Assessments
Animals to be rewilded are thoroughly assessed for health and behavior to ensure they are fit for a life in the wild. We collaborate with and fund expert veterinarians to provide the appropriate disease testing, immunizations, vaccines, dietary recommendations and more. This is crucial in determining their survival and adaptability post-release.
Gradual Acclimatization
Each individual requires a unique approach to rewilding. Our team evaluates each animal’s readiness for release, deciding between a soft release, where animals are gradually introduced to the wild while still having access to a secure environment, or a hard release, where they are directly released into the wild.
Post-Release Tracking & Monitoring
WeWild Africa places a high emphasis on post-release monitoring to evaluate the adaptability of rewilded animals and the overall impact on the ecosystem. To achieve this, we invest in tracking technology, equipping all released animals with satellite or GPS collars. We build local capacity by training community teams in monitoring techniques and data management best practices. This not only enhances the effectiveness of our projects but also fosters community involvement.
Highlights
In May 2024, WeWild Africa undertook the translocation of 40 Southern White Rhinos to the Munywana Conservancy. This was the inaugural translocation as part of ‘Rhino Rewild,’ an initiative aimed at rewilding 2,000 rhinos over the next decade, with WeWild Africa providing funding and assistance in locating suitable rewilding sites.
The first phase of a monumental project to secure the future of wild vulture populations in southern Africa has been triumphantly completed with the translocation of 163 Cape and African White-backed vultures into their new home at Shamwari Private Game Reserve. This collaboration between Shamwari, Vulpro, DHL, and WeWild Africa marks the largest translocation of vultures ever undertaken in the world.
In a groundbreaking world-first initiative, we have set a new precedent in wildlife conservation by rewilding two captive-born cheetahs, Saba and Nairo, from the UK to South Africa. The team’s innovative mindset and meticulous planning led to a successful rewilding, infusing new genetics into South Africa’s cheetah population.
In a world’s-first international conservation effort, WeWild Africa, together with Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservation, achieved a historical first by translocating two cheetahs, Kumbe and Jabari, from Canada’s snowy landscapes to Zimbabwe’s vast savannahs. This landmark initiative helps revitalize Zimbabwe’s cheetah population genetics.
We do what no other organization in the world does. We’ve successfully rewilded 23 crocodiles, some up to 3.5 meters long, back into the wilderness. WeWild Africa not only funded the transportation but also equipped these apex predators with GPS tags to monitor their successful adaptation to the wild.
As Tembe emerged from her crate, in a moment never seen before in the world, growling with the fierceness of her kind, we realized the significance of her story: it challenges our views on wildlife captivity and conservation, urging us to rethink the roles of zoos in the modern era.
WeWild Africa celebrates a groundbreaking achievement in cheetah conservation with the birth of four cubs to rewilded parents, Ava and Nairo, at Mount Camdeboo. This marks the first successful breeding in the wild of cheetahs rewilded from Europe.
No animal is too big or too small, and each individual matters in our conservation of biodiversity. Today we look at the twelve banded mongooses who were rescued and rehabilitated by Wild and Free and now thriving in their new home in Zimbabwe.
