In early September, nine critically endangered black rhinos were airlifted from South Africa on a Boeing 747 cargo plane, transferred to a massive C-130 Hercules waiting on an airstrip in Tanzania s Kilimanjaro region, and then flown to the westernmost part of Serengeti National Park.

Their final destination was the 350,000-acre Ikorongo Game Reserve on the edge of the park, where these rhinos that were born and raised in captivity will spend the coming weeks in enclosures until theyre acclimated and ready to be released into the wild. The hope is that the project will begin reseeding this land with a species thats become nearly extinct here.

The journey marked the first stage of a costly and complex plan that will move an additional five rhinos to Ikorongo from European zoos in 2020. The $7.3 million project the biggest rhino relocation in Tanzanias history includes security, personnel and infrastructure like roads to support the ambitious reintroduction.