DHL has delivered a 900kg female black rhino from its birthplace in the Czech Republic to its natural homeland in Tanzania.

Three-year-old Eliska was moved to a natural park in Tanzania as part of an ongoing conservation project run by the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust, aimed at helping endangered animal populations to grow and prosper in their natural habitat.

The move was overseen by an international team, comprising around 40 specialists in areas ranging from ground transportation and aviation to customs clearance and certification across more than five countries.

Eliska was transferred from ZOO Dvur Kralove, where she was born in 2012, to the main DHL European Hub in Leipzig, Germany. She was then loaded on to a dedicated 28-ton Boeing 757-200 freighter, specially modified for animal transport, and flown more than 6 500km directly to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania, from where she was transferred by truck to her new home.

Along the way, she was accompanied and monitored by a team of support staff, including Dr. Pete Morkel, one of the world’s leading black rhino veterinarians.

Five containers of food and water supplies were also loaded for the journey. ZOO Dvur Kralove, where Eliska was born, has a strong record of breeding Eastern black rhinos, with 43 calves of the species born to date.