Akagera national park is located in the eastern reaches of Rwanda neighbouring Tanzania. The national park is one of the successful stories about conservation in Africa. The national park is blessed with amazing wildlife species such as lions, giraffes, hippos, leopards, buffalos, rhinos, elephants and zebras among others. Besides wildlife species, the national park is a home to primates such as vervet monkeys, the olive baboons, black and white colobus monkeys and blue monkeys and birds. The national park is as well blessed with lakes such as lake Ihema.

Akagera national park was once a forest reserve which was latter gazetted because of its rich bio-diversity in flora and fauna. In 1934 the forest reserve earned its status as a national park by the Belgian government. This was done to protect the remaining wildlife species that were threatened in the park. The national park is among the oldest parks in Africa and the biggest with an area cover originally of 2,500 square kilometres.

The national park was once a home to a large population of wildlife species such as the lions, buffalos, rhinoceros, leopards, lycanos, hippos and antelopes among others. The national park was famous due the existence of the “Lycanos wild dogs” and thus named the “park of lycanos”. However, many of them were killed after the outbreak of the epidemic and the last to be seen was in 1984.

After the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, many of the Rwandan refugees came back home and settled in parts of akagera national park. Thus, making most of the parts of the national park to be cleared as to get land for settlement, farming as well as grazing animals. Many of the animals were hunted down as source of food for the many people.

As a result of consistence in poaching of these animals as well as deforestation, over 25% of the park was destroyed. Many of the wildlife species were distinct such as the rhinoceros and lions. The last rhino to be spotted was in 2007 as well as the lions. Originally the national park had 300 lions and over 50 black rhinos. A joint management agreement was signed between an NGO called African parks and the Rwanda development board in 2009 to manage the national park. Then in 2010 the Akagera management company was formed which oversees the running of the park. the national park received 7 lions that were brought from south Africa. This was done after the absence of lions for 15 years within the national park.

Akagera national park later received 18 black eastern rhinoceros from south Africa in 2017. These were introduced after 10 years of no existence. The re-introduction of the rhinos increased the number due to the birth of a calf a few years. In June 2019 5 more black rhinos were brought from the zoo in Czech Republic. Therefore, this initiative helped to increase the number of rhinos in the national park. Many more improvements such as the acquisition of a helicopter for aerial surveillance within the park, introduction of antipoaching canine unite and the employment of many park rangers to tighten security within the national park.