Thirty-two southern white rhinos were safely delivered to Sabi Sand Nature Reserve last month. It's a private reserve within the Greater Kruger system and is engaged in what is believed to be the largest rewilding of a species of that size.

Despite - or perhaps because of - a decade of poaching that ravaged the Greater Kruger open system, it was hailed as "a great day" when 32 white rhinos took their first tentative steps into Sabi Sand Nature Reserve in May. The reserve has become a safe sanctuary for rhinos in recent years thanks to innovative anti-poaching strategies.

"Our members and even myself, in my relatively short time at Sabi Sand, have personally seen far too many poached rhino carcasses," Sabi Sand manager Iain Olivier told Daily Maverick.

"When the first southern white rhino stepped on to the Sabi Sand Nature Reserve from this group, it marked not just a moment of conservation success, but a deeply personal victory for us as a reserve, our members, and our dedicated team who have tirelessly worked to protect rhinos in this area, often risking their lives both within and outside the boundaries of our reserve. A great day."

The Sabi Sand Nature Reserve, with the Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation (GKEPF) and non-profit organisation African Parks - supported by game capture specialists Conservation Solutions - successfully moved the 32 animals into the private reserve.

This marked the first translocation into the Greater...