Khama Rhino Sanctuary: A Community-Led Conservation Success

By the early 1980s, Botswana's rhino population had collapsed toward local extinction — despite the animals having held protected status since 1922. Poaching had simply outpaced protection. The response, when it came, was led not by a national agency but by the community of Serowe itself.

A village conservation project

Led by the Bangwato Paramount Chief, Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, alongside local conservationists, Serowe residents established the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in 1989 — a reserve conceived, staffed, and still largely run by people from the surrounding villages. Just 20km from Serowe and easily reached from either Gaborone or Francistown, it was built to be both a genuine conservation project and an accessible stopover for travellers heading north.

The comeback

The first four white rhino were reintroduced in 1992, with eight more arriving from South Africa's North West National Parks. The far more endangered black rhino followed in 2002. It worked: the sanctuary now supports 35 white rhino and has become a source population, reintroducing animals to Moremi Game Reserve, the Makgadikgadi, and the Northern Tuli Game Reserve. The first captive-born black rhino calf arrived in 2008 — a milestone for the whole program.

Visiting

Beyond rhino tracking, KRS offers game drives, birding, guided bush walks, and a genuinely good education centre that hosts school groups from across Botswana. The sanctuary's perimeter is patrolled by the Botswana Defence Force, a reminder of how seriously the country now takes the animals it nearly lost.