Building Black Rhino
Sanctuaries in East Africa
Fauna & Flora
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Black rhinos in East Africa
F
or four decades, the black rhinos
of East Africa have been in serious
decline.
During the 1970s and
1980s, rhino poaching across Africa reduced populations dramatically, and the eastern
black rhino (Diceros bicornis michaeli) became one of the world’s most endangered rhino
subspecies. During the 1990s, strong conservation efforts by the Kenya Wildlife Service,
local governments and private conservancies have been effective in halting this decline.
Where poaching threats remained high, free-ranging rhinos were translocated to intensely
protected sanctuaries. In central Kenya, private ranches and conservancies became the
core areas for rhino breeding and re-stocking. By 2005, the population had stabilized
at just 638 animals, most of which were in Kenya. Yet, black rhinos remain threatened.
Still threatened, but back from the brink
Illegal killing of rhinos for their horns is still the primary threat to rhinos in East Africa.
However, the intensive sanctuary
approach is yielding dividends. The
remaining populations of rhinos are
now sufficiently well-secured within
sanctuaries, and the Kenya rhino
population is increasing at more than
five percent per year. This steady
growth is facilitated by redistributing
“surplus” rhinos when numbers
approach the social and ecological
carrying capacity of each area. Moving these animals helps establish new populations in secure
habitats, and reinforces existing populations to ensure demographic or genetic health.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy – a landmark sanctuary for rhino conservation
Katharine Frohardt
Executive Director
1720 N Street, NW
Washington, DC
20036
Tel (202) 375-7766
Katie.frohardt@
fauna-flora.org
www.fauna-flora.org
One of the most important sanctuaries is the Ol Pejeta Conservancy (OPC) in central Kenya’s
Laikipia district. Formerly a cattle ranch of 350 sq km, OPC was privately purchased in 2003,
and its three shareholders (FFI, the Arcus Foundation, and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy) have
made it a successful landmark conservancy. OPC promotes sustainable wildlife conservation as
a viable land use that can also enhance the livelihoods of local people.
In 2003, there were 49 black rhinos in “Sweetwaters Sanctuary” on OPC. In 2007, through
the largest single rhino translocation ever to take place in East Africa, another 27 eastern black
rhinos were added. This made OPC’s black rhino population the largest in East Africa. As a
‘rhino breeding bank’, the conservancy can now provide surplus rhinos to other sanctuaries
and protection zones, in accordance with Kenya’s national rhino strategy.
Continued on reverse
Fauna & Flora International
With the support of FFI and its partners, the OPC
conservancy model has become a benchmark for wildlife
conservation outside of parks and reserves. Protecting and
managing such an important rhino population is costly,
and until recently has been heavily supported through
revenues generated by OPC’s vibrant tourism operation
at Sweetwaters Tented Camp, one of Kenya’s most famous
lodges. Tourism revenues, coupled with income from the
OPC cattle ranching operation, have supported a highly
effective wildlife management program, allowed for
intensified anti-poaching patrols, paid for electric-fencing
and regular patrols to reduce conflict between wildlife and
local communities, and helped fund a research program
to determine how best to maintain species and habitat
diversity.
Tourism disruptions impact
wildlife protection
Wildlife conservation programs that depend on tourist
revenues, such as OPC’s, are hit hard when economic or
political disruptions reduce tourism, even temporarily.
During much of 2008, Kenya’s tourist industry was
dramatically affected on both fronts due to a contested
general election and the global economic downturn. As
a result, wildlife protection efforts were stretched to the
limit. At OPC, this corresponded with a sharp increase in
horn and ivory-driven poaching. This continued into 2009,
when two major black rhino poaching attempts occurred
at OPC within less than a year – the first rhino poaching
incidents on the conservancy since its inception.
Black rhino future depends on
regional collaboration
With these complex challenges, FFI considers it critical
to put in place a regional black rhino management
approach for East Africa, along the lines of a proven
program in Southern Africa. An “East Africa Rhino
Management Group,” representing the government,
private conservancies, communal land areas, and regional
rhino specialists, will be the catalyst for negotiating and
coordinating collaborative management and monitoring of
black rhinos in East Africa, with the potential for wider
transboundary wildlife management.
Exciting opportunities for bilateral collaboration on black
rhino conservation between Kenya and other East African
countries already exist. For example, the Kenya Wildlife
Service is working with the Rwanda Parks Authority to
build a black rhino reintroduction program at Akagera
National Park. In the Tsavo -Mkomazi Ecosystem,
management and monitoring collaboration is taking place
with Tanzania National Parks, involving both the Ngulia
rhino population in Tsavo West National Park and the
rhino sanctuary in the young Mkomazi National Park.
These efforts benefit from the expert guidance of FFI
Africa regional director, Dr. Rob Brett, an internationally
recognized rhino specialist, who has facilitated the East
Africa process to date, bringing experience from his years
as coordinator of the Southern Africa Program for Rhino
Conservation. With this leadership, FFI is confident that
by combining the benchmark OPC conservancy model
and strategic tourism alliances with FFI’s work to develop
a strong East Africa Rhino Management Group, we will
provide a promising future for East Africa’s threatened
black rhino populations.
Key Activity
Budget
Current
Unmet Need
Rhino protection ranger force at OPC
$150,000 $ 90,000
Patrol rations and ranger uniforms
$ 50,000 $ 35,000
Aircraft, vehicles and radio operations at OPC
$ 45,000 $ 30,000
Technical support at OPC on rhino management
$ 25,000 $ 15,000
Regional black rhino collaboration and activities
(e.g. training for law enforcement, rhino monitoring,
$150,000 $130,000
translocation, reintroduction)
Total
$420,000 $300,000
FFI is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization EIN #04-2730954.