Kenya loses eight black rhinos in translocation mishap
Saturday July 14 2018
A sedated adult male black rhino that is earmarked for translocation is drilled at the horn to fit a radio transmitter at a conservancy in Kenya in 2015. PHOTO | AFP
Kenya has lost eight black rhinos, barely a week after they were moved to a different park, with scientists attributing it to saline poisoning.
The animal’ deaths are a huge setback for the country’s conservation efforts as the black rhino is an endangered species.
The rhinos were moved by the Kenya Wildlife Service from the Nairobi and Nakuru National Parks to Tsavo East National Park in a bid to create a more secure habitat for the rhinos.
The EastAfrican was informed that the rhinos died as a result of drinking salty water, although investigations into the deaths were incomplete.
Eleven black rhinos were part of 14 slated for translocation (eight from Nairobi and six from the Lake Nakuru National Park).
“Things did not go according to script. All the precautions were taken, including ensuring the quality of water was right and where to hold the rhinos was safe before releasing them into the wild. But something went wrong,” a source said.
The source said it was while the animals were at the holding ground that they are believed to have drunk “too much” of saline water that was being pumped out of a borehole.
“Following the travel, the animals were stressed and thirsty and consumed a lot of the saline water,” the source said.
Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala, directed the KWS to immediately suspend the ongoing translocation.
It is not clear whether the remaining rhinos drank the water too, and their condition.
A statement by the Wild Wide Fund for Nature-Kenya attributed the deaths to translocation “risks”: “Translocating animals of this size is challenging and not without risk, but black rhinos are under enormous threat so efforts to try and better protect them, such as translocation, are crucial for future generations.”
The deaths bring to ten the number of black rhinos lost by Kenya this year, after three were killed by poachers at the Meru National Park.
The Tsavo East sanctuary was expected to host more rhinos in subsequent translocations.
As at the end of last year, Kenya’s rhino population was 1,258 that included 745 black rhinos, 510 Southern whites and three Northern white rhinos.
However, Sudan, the only surviving Northern white rhino male died in March.