Why were 4 rare northern white rhinos relocated to Kenya (AP) ?”
By JASON STRAZIUSO (AP) – 51 minutes ago OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY, Kenya — Four of the world’s last known eight northern white rhinos landed in Kenya on Sunday and were transported to a game park where officials hope the endangered mammals will reproduce and save their subspecies. No white rhinos are known to remain in the wild, and the animals transported on Sunday have produced no offspring after nearly 24 years in a Czech zoo. So wildlife workers hoping to save the subspecies loaded two males and two females into wooden crates and began the effort to return them to what was once their savannah homeland. When teams of Kenyan wildlife workers opened the crates on Sunday, two of the rhinos lingered several minutes before moving to a larger pen as Czech animals handlers coaxed them out with soothing words and treats. The other two exited immediately. The rhinos’ handlers and park officials said they hoped the two females will bear as many young as possible for several years, but all those
“The aim of the project — years down the line — is to reintroduce the northern white rhino back to southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, said Patrick Omondi, head of species conservation and management for the Kenya Wildlife Service. Alastair Lucas, the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs in Australia, helped finance the rhinos’ move to Kenya, a project he became involved with earlier this year after visiting Uganda and being told parks there no longer have rhinos. He declined to say how much he donated or the cost of moving the animals. “Shipping rhinos across the world is not cheap. They don’t fit in economy seats,” Lucas said. “I had to fly them business class.” The rhinos will remain penned in the Kenyan park as they acclimate to the climate and vegetation.
