Northern White Rhino Reintroduction

To breed and reintroduce northern white rhinos into their former range in Kenya

The northern subspecies of the white rhino, Ceratotherium simum cottoni, was only first discovered in 1903. At that time the species was locally common and widely distributed in suitable grasslands and sparse savanna woodlands of five states in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Sudan and Uganda). In the 1960s it was still more numerous than the southern subspecies. Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo were the two main strongholds with an estimated population of 1’000 and 1'150 animals respectively. By 1971, the numbers dropped to 650, and by 1981 to  about 350 individuals. By 1984 the subspecies had gone extinct in Uganda, Central African Republic and Chad, and because of civil war and political unrest, only a few animals remained in the other countries, the largest population of 15 animals surviving in the Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. In Garamba the population increased as long as adequate protection could be guaranteed and reached 31 animals in 1995. Then it declined again.

Nowadays, the northern white rhino is the world’s rarest rhinoceros form. There are probably only a few individuals left in the Garamba National Park, where poaching risk is still present. During a ground survey in Garamba in 2007, only one rhino could be seen, but tracks of others were found in several places.

Eight northern white rhinos are currently kept in human care: six individuals - four of which zoo-bred - at the Dvur Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic, and a pair, owned by the Khartum Zoo and Dvur Kralové Zoo respectively, at the San Diego Wild Animals Park.

In September 2008, a meeting took place at the Dvur Králové Zoo to explore a saving strategy for the northern white rhino. It was concluded that the only real chance to save this subspecies was to bring together the remaining wild animals and reproduction-capable animals from zoos. The only captive breeding group in the world is the herd of the Dvur Králové Zoo where the last calf was born in 2000. It was agreed that moving the reproduction-capable animals of the Zoo into natural conditions would encourage their natural social and territorial behaviour, which is necessary for a regular reproduction of the females. An action plan was created that will be realized as an international project of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), supported by the UNESCO.

As there was no suitable and safe location available in the wild, the animals were transfered to a property of Ol Pejeta, a non-profit wildlife conservation organisation in the Laikipia District of Kenya.

WAZA Conservation Project 08017 is implemented by the Dvur Králové Zoo (Czech Republic), in collaboration with WAZA,  Back to Africa, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Vienna Veterinary University and local partners in Kenya.