Baby Obama heralds rhino revival in Uganda

There is also a female and male rhino at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe still struggling to breed since 2002 when they were brought in from Kenya.

In 1978, the country had 200 rhinos but by 1982 poaching and insecurity clered them all. In Africa, there are only 15,000 of the animals left.

The rest of the world’s rhinos are found in tropical Asia.

Rhino populations are at risk from massive poaching for their horns, a kilo of which can fetch as much as $50,000 in the black market.

The horns are reputed to cure disease and cast out evil spirits in children besides being regarded as a powerful aphrodisiac.

The horns are also in demand for making handles for traditional Yemeni daggers.

Today, the 70-square-kilometre Ziwa Rhino sanctuary is the only home to the wild rhinos in Uganda.

The sanctuary’s long term goal is to build a sustainable rhino population and relocate them to their original habitat in Uganda’s protected areas.

However, this will take many years to happen given the slow rate of rhinos’ reproduction.

For instance, there is only one successful breeding in every four to five years yet it takes between seven to nine years before young ones begin to breed.

The hope is that the six rhinos expected from South Africa in April or May, will be female to offset the gender imbalance currently at the sanctuary and enhance breeding.