In 1970, Zimbabwe held an estimated 1,500 black rhino — the third-largest population in Africa. By 1993, the poaching crisis had reduced that number to approximately 300. Game rangers were fighting a war against well-organised poaching networks funded by the international horn trade. They were losing it.
What happened next is a story conservation rarely tells loudly enough. Zimbabwe’s parks service, working with private conservancy operators and international NGOs, implemented a combination of intensive protection, population monitoring, and community engagement that gradually reversed the trajectory. Today Zimbabwe’s rhino population is recovering. The trend line has been positive for over two decades.
The Matobo Hills National Park is home to Zimbabwe’s most accessible rhino population — approximately 35 white rhino and a small number of critically endangered black rhino. The protection programme involves dedicated anti-poaching units, regular population surveys, and a monitoring system that tracks individual animals by name.
ZimTravellers offers rhino tracking experiences at Matobo Hills in partnership with the ranger teams who manage this population. You walk with an armed ranger, following tracks and spoor to locate animals in their natural habitat. The ethical framework is clear: minimum approach distances, no behaviour modification, no baiting. This is not a zoo experience. It is participation in active conservation.
