Kenya relocates rhinos to sanctuary
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E-mail Xinhua, August 27, 2013
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Monday started the relocation of some 21 black rhinos from a national park to a sanctuary in northwest Kenya.
Ten rhinos will be transferred from the Lake Nakuru National Park to Borana Sanctuary in Laikipia County which lies at the foot of Mount Kenya.
KWS Assistant Director of Central Rift Conservation Area Jonathan Kirui told journalists in Nakuru that the relocation, which began on Monday under tight security, will end on Aug. 28.
"Relocation exercise is not only a measure of protecting the rhinos from extinction but reducing the rate of breeding at the Lake Nakuru National Park. We are recording a rapidly increasing rate of breeding unlike before," Kirui said.
The 188-square-kilometer premium park located in Nakuru County, within the Rift Valley region, was established in 1984 as a rhino sanctuary.
It serves as a breeding ground to replenish rhino stocks at other national parks and private wildlife conservancies in the East African state.
Rhinos are among the big five most sought after species by poachers due to their pricey horns. According to the KWS, there are about 643 black rhinos and 450 white rhinos in the country.
The movement of the species, the state wildlife agency officials' said, protects them from extinction while providing ample breeding space for remaining mates at the Lake Nakuru National Park.
Kirui said the Borana Ranch provides a favorable breeding ground for the species.
The upward breeding trend notably poses a looming food crisis at the park and hence the need for relocation, according to the KWS official.
"With the increasing number of breeding rhinos, the number of the wildlife grows against the food capacity. In the long-term, it will create a state of food competition among the wildlife which also endangers their survival," added Kirui.
The 35,000-acre Borana ranch is also a home to reticulated giraffe, Grant's gazelle, lions, impala buffalo, eland, and herds of impala and Burchell's zebra and Jackson's hartebeest.
KWS National Rhino Programs Coordinator Ben Okita said that Lake Nakuru National Park had reached its maximum capacity, thus the need to establish a new population at the Borana sanctuary.
The rhino population growth rate at the Lake Nakuru National Park stands at 1 percent while the rhino population in the country currently stands at 1,025, 631 being black while 394 are white.
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