Saving the Rhinos
It’s a 3.5 hours drive from Nairobi north to the fertile Laikipia plateau. Close to Nanyuki at the foot of Mt Kenya and right on the equator lies the exceptional conservancy Ol Pejeta. It was established in 1988 as a sanctuary for black rhino and other wildlife. Their focus on protecting rhinos has become a role model for other conservancies. They now protect 130 black rhinos and are the largest sanctuary in East Africa.
In 1993 there were about 2300 black rhinos left in Africa living in the wild – and of those, 20 at Ol Pejeta. Since then, due to the conservation efforts with successful breeding and very tough anti-poaching operations, the total population has risen to 5000! In Kenya alone, the goal is to increase the population from the current 900 to 2000.
At Ol Pejeta (and other conservancies) every day and night, the armed rangers patrol on foot throughout the land counting the rhinos. If one goes missing they search with helicopters. Up until 2016 the poacher-monsters were still brutally slaughtering these beautiful and gentle prehistoric animals…
Then, finally the same year the rangers, with the help of their Dog-Tracking unit, caught 2 poachers in the act who they shot and killed. The punishment for poachers is shoot on sight or if they are caught otherwise, jail for life - fortunately this has proven successful in the conservation areas and since that time there haven’t been any more rhino slayings there – and we really hope it stays that way. This unique shot Aaron got here, we think, shows their gratitude by blowing a kiss 😊!
The anti-poaching strategy includes the use of tracking dogs. They are trained to scent gun powder and humans and can retain the scent for up to 72 hours. We had the amazing chance to visit these dogs and their trainers – another huge highlight of our trip. First we got to pet and cuddle these amazing and beautiful dogs (6 Bloodhounds and 1 Springer Spaniel) and then do some tracking exercises with them. It was brilliant! Aaron took off with a ranger into the bush, whilst Clare waited with the trainer and another ranger for about 15 minutes. Malaika was then brought out to where we were, given the scent and off we sped following her searching for the hidden boys! After only a short time, she found them – absolutely amazing! Thank the Universe for these Trainers/Handlers and Dogs!
Ol Pejeta Conservancy also protects 30 southern white rhinos. The first ones were introduced there in 2005. White rhinos are bigger than black rhinos and are much more social. While black rhinos prefer thick bush habitat and are more solitary, white rhinos live in small groups called a ‘crash’ and prefer open grass plains also making them easier to spot on safari.
The special project at Ol Pejeta Conservancy is the extremely endangered and on the brink of extinction Northern White Rhino. One of the main reasons for us to visit this conservancy was to see the last two remaining female northern white rhinos on earth. We’d watched the BBC documentary on the last male called Sudan who died age 45 in 2018. So on a guided tour with Mark, the passionate Rhino-Caretaker, we visited Najin and Fatu – Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter in their habitat.
Being together with these two gentle beauties was a very touching, heart warming and unforgettable experience. Mark was telling us that in the coming weeks they will know if there will be more embryos from Fatu’s and/or Najin’s ovaries – and on our return to Switzerland last week, the news (Guardian, NYTimes, Ol Pejeta) is now out that there are 2 more embryos! These will one day used with a surrogate mother and we very much hope and keep our fingers crossed that this new technology will enable the species to survive.
After our visit with Najin and Fatu, we met this beautiful boy - Baraka - a blind black rhino who was rescued from the wild and wouldn't have been able to survive on his own. He lives in his own large natural quarters at the Conservancy. What a sweety and we were allowed to feed him some of his favourite leaves 😊.
During our visit we stayed at the Ol Pejeta Bush Camp that belongs to and is run by the Asilia Bush Camp. It is in a beautiful location right next to the river with 7 exclusive bush-tents. The Management and Staff were just fantastic, the food was amazing and the safaris were excellent! We didn’t bring a warm jacket with us since we went in the hottest month of January. But it does get really cold at night until early morning as it’s at 1700m altitude, so make sure you take a warm fleece with you. Across the river we watched Baboons, Buffalo and Elephant and were also greeted by a cute Bushbuck on our front deck!
The beautiful thing with safaris is you just never know what amazing wildlife encounters await. On one of them our guide tried to find cheetah but we ended up following a journey of a reticulated giraffes with two cute babies instead. Reticulated giraffes only exist north of the equator in Kenya, in southwest Somalia as well as in southern Ethiopia. They are listed as endangered due to habitat loss.
There is also an abundance of other African wildlife at Ol Pejeta and we saw baboons, impala, Grant’s gazelle, eiland, waterbuck, dik-dik, common zebra, elephant, hyenas and warthogs. There are also over 300 colourful bird species of which we saw many.
We spotted one endangered and rare Jackson’s hartebeest living within the company of a herd of impalas. They are easily distinguishable from other antelope species – these are high shouldered, long-legged and short-necked with a long narrow face. You would never expect that they can actually reach speeds of up to 70 kph.
Each evening, before returning to Bush Camp for dinner we stopped for a sundowner. This usually ended up as another safari highlight! Once it was a clan of hyenas around their den and we watched the youngest ones fooling around. To our surprise they showed huge respect to an approaching warthog.
Next we observed a pride of lions relaxing in the grass before the hunt for their dinner. When it was almost dark this young lion looked right up into the camera and has become one of our favourite photos. Other big cats like leopards or cheetahs are there too but lower in numbers and far more difficult to spot.
The last sundowner was at a spot where the lighting was perfectly beautiful on Mount Kenya.
We really enjoyed our stay at Ol Pejeta Bush Camp and can highly recommend it to anyone seeking a great and close-up experience at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Our warm thanks go to all the animal Carers, Rangers, Guides, Trainers and tracker Dogs who are doing an absolutely exceptional job in protecting endangered animals.
Rhino conservation is expensive. For donations we would recommend the following organisations:
Our other African blogs so far:
"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"
(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)
Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
© 2021 by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker
#africa
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