(Bloomberg) -- Mozambique has received 19 white rhinos from neighboring South Africa, the first to roam a key national park in more than four decades after the species were wiped out by poachers.

The relocation of the animals to Zinave National Park, part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park that links South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is the longest road transfer of rhinos ever done and is expected to boost tourism, the Peace Parks Foundation said in a statement on its website. To date, the 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) park has introduced 2,400 game animals after numbers were decimated by a 15-year civil war. 

The return of rhinos will turn the park into a sought-after tourism destination, said Werner Myburgh, chief executive officer of the foundation, the conservation group that led the project. It is the only national park in Mozambique that has the “big five species” -- elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo, he said.  

“This will open doors for international investment and tourism development which in turn will generate income to sustain park operations,” Myburgh said. The rhino population at the park is expected to increase to more than 40 over the next two to three years. 

Read More: World’s First Wildlife Bond to Track Rhino Numbers in Africa 

More than 8,000 black and white rhinos -- a third of the global population -- have been lost to poaching in southern Africa. They are targeted by poachers for their horns, which are ground up into powder and are believed to have medicinal properties in east Asia.

In May last year, neighboring Zimbabwe reintroduced rhino at its Gonarezhou National Park for the first time in 30 years, after its rhino population was wiped out.

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