Michael Pelham, Matusadona Park Manager: 30-Year Cycle Ends As Rhino Return Home

By Ross Moyo

For Park Manager Michael Pelham, today closed a 30-year operational cycle. He helped crate and fly out Matusadona’s last black rhino in the 1990s. Now he welcomed their descendants back to Lake Kariba.

Matusadona spans 140,700 hectares from Kariba shoreline to Zambezi escarpment. Proclaimed in 1975, it built its brand on elephant and black rhino. The rhino’s absence left an ecological and tourism gap rangers felt daily.

“I was here in the 1990s when we lost them. I helped capture the last survivors, we crated them and flew them out to safety, not knowing if the species would ever come back. Having witnessed the rhino’s catastrophic decline in Matusadona, it is incredibly emotional to see their return. Matusadona is synonymous with black rhino, and walking through this landscape recently, there has been an overbearing sense that we are missing an icon. No words can describe the feeling of seeing these animals arrive back into Matusadona. The entire park team is incredibly grateful to every individual and partner who has helped make this moment a reality,” said Michael Pelham, Park Manager of Matusadona National Park.

Operationally, the return reflects rebuilt capacity. Since African Parks took a 20-year management mandate with ZimParks in 2019, Matusadona has seen investment in patrol infrastructure, intelligence systems and community engagement.

The new rhino carry the same Sebungwe genetic lineage removed during the poaching crisis. They will spend time in purpose-built bomas before phased release, each fitted with GPS units for live tracking.

Pelham says the tracking stack changes risk management. Rangers can monitor movement, health and human-wildlife conflict in real time, shifting from reactive to predictive deployment of field teams.

Tourism economics shift too. Black rhino are a flagship for high-value, low-impact tourism. Their return strengthens Matusadona’s position in Zimbabwe’s conservation-led economy and regional competitiveness.

The operation was led by Matusadona National Park, ZimParks and African Parks, with funding from the EU, Global Wildlife Fund and Thomas and Sara de Swardt. Preliminary work was funded by Rhino Recovery Fund.

Pelham’s team now focuses on post-release monitoring. The goal is to get the founder group breeding and secure inside the Intensive Protection Zone.

“The entire park team is incredibly grateful,” he said. For Pelham, Matusadona finally feels whole again.