Sharjah24 – AFP: Thirty endangered white rhinos arrived in Rwanda on Monday after a long journey from South Africa in a Boeing 747, conservationists said, hailing it as the largest single transfer of the species ever undertaken.

The majestic animals, which can weigh up to two tonnes, travelled some 3,400 kilometres (2,100 miles) from South Africa's Phinda Private Game Reserve as part of a programme to replenish the species' population, decimated by poaching since the 1970s.

Once plentiful across sub-Saharan Africa, white rhino suffered first from hunting by European settlers, and later a poaching epidemic which largely wiped them out.

The rhinos began their 40-hour journey to the new home in Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda following months of preparation, said African Parks, a charity headed by Britain's Prince Harry which is involved in the exercise.

The animals were transported in a chartered Boeing 747 and were placed in two grassy enclosures -- each the size of a football stadium -- after arriving in the park.

Later they will be allowed to roam the expansive park, authorities said.

Wildlife transfers are not without risks. In 2018, four out of six relocated black rhinos died a few months after arriving in Chad.

The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies of white rhino, is now considered endangered with about 20,000 individuals remaining, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

It is classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).