In December 2009, four of the last eight northern white rhinos left on earth were moved from captivity at Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic to a new breeding project in Kenya.

Although it is yet to be officially announced, northern white rhinos are now effectively extinct in the wild and the breeding project, based at Ol Pejeta in northern Kenya, represents the last chance to save the species from extinction.

Berry White, formerly Head Rhino Keeper at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, UK, prepared the rhinos for their journey back to Africa and has been looking after them on a day-to-day basis ever since.

Neil Bridgland spoke to her recently to find out the project is progressing…

NB – So how are the rhinos acclimatising to Kenya after so long in Europe?

BW – The rhinos have acclimatised brilliantly in Kenya since their arrival here in Africa from the Czech Republic on 20th December 2009. It was a pretty big transition for them. The week we left their old home at Dvur Kralove Zoo the temperature was minus 9 degrees. They were only going out from their lovely warm heated house and bedroom for about an hour a day!

Now they will never have a roof above their heads again and they are outside 24 hours a day. We are pretty much slap bang on the equator here at Ol Pejeta (Laikipia District, northern Kenya) so the climate is lovely. The temperature drops significantly at night, but its so hot in the daytime they sort of recharge their batteries in the sun.

We’ve also had a decent amount of rain here which after a long period of drought in Kenya has been very welcome. Rhinos love nothing more than to wallow in the mud and play in the rain, especially when it’s warm like this so they’ve been very happy.

NB – It must be great to see them settled after such as massive journey?

BW – The journey from Dvur Kralove to Ol Pejeta took about 26 hours! We loaded the rhinos without any stresses into their crates and a two hour drive to Prague airport was followed by an eight hour flight to Nairobi where we landed at 3 a.m. the following morning. We left Nairobi at dawn and by mid-afternoon the rhinos were safely loaded into their bomas. It was great to have had such a calm journey and loading and unloading for them.

NB – Has their diet changed since they returned to their roots in Africa?

BW – They feed pretty much throughout the night when the temperature drops – that’s when wild rhinos are most active. We’ve kept them on their zoo diet of pellets, apples, bananas, carrots and hay for now, but we’re also working in lots of fresh cut grass.

They now have access to a very large camp, we opened up for them about a month ago. They really love this and they took to grazing for themselves pretty much instantly which was great to see three of the four rhinos – Suni, Najin and Fatu – were all born in the Czech republic and had lived their lives in yards without grass. Now they take great delight in grazing throughout the day and exploring the bush. Their senses seem to now be much more alert and with all the extra exercise they really look in great shape and their skin is looking so much better.

NB – There are less than 10 northern white rhinos left on earth – I guess they get some fairly special attention?

BW – The rhinos are given 24 hour keeper care and armed guard security. We spend two hours cleaning their overnight bomas, changing their water and giving them fresh hay and cut grasses and generally checking to see if they are alright and eating well. Then there’s more detailed checks – seeing if they’ve picked up ticks from outside, checking dung for consistency. We also take dung samples from the two girls – Najin (mother) and Fatu (daughter) every 3 days and these get sent to Vienna for oestrogen pattern analysis.

Once all the cleaning and checking is done we let the rhinos out into the large outside camp. Najin is currently running with her daughter Fatu and the two males – Suni and Sudan – run separately. They are currently brought in over night and we give them their tea around 5pm – carrots, apples, bananas and pellets.  They’re also given hay which is topped up throughout the night.

NB – How long do you think it will be before you know if the animals are going to breed successfully?

BW – The current plan is to release the rhinos into a much larger camp as soon as possible. Sudan, the 36 year old male will be going with the females Najin (19 years old) and Fatu (9 years old) at first and we plan to also bring 4-6 southern white rhino females to join them. Later a second large camp will be fenced off enabling us to separate one of the northern white females along with a couple of the southern white females to join the other male Suni.

At this stage we are taking everything week by week but we hope to run the animals like this for the first year and see how they go. It’s difficult to predict breeding success at this stage, but they certainly are loving their new home here in Africa and have a better chance of success here than anywhere else we feel.

NB – The project has come into criticism from other conservation organisations. What is your response to those who it’s too late for the northern white rhino?

BW – Well I understand that there is not always enough money for organisations to support every project. However, I feel that if there is someone willing to fund it and people prepared to give it a go then why be negative? (editor’s note – most of the money for the project has come from a single major donor and the money would not have been made available for other conservation projects) What right have we to give up on a species and what sort of message does it give to do so?

Verbal and written support costs nothing. If other organisation cannot support the project financially then the least they could do would be provide moral support. We should all be pulling in the same direction – the last thing the rhinos need is us squabbling. If there’s a chance to save a species, it should always be taken. The criticism has been good in some ways as it’s created a lot of media attention for these rhinos and hopefully people will become more aware that we are losing this magnificent species from our planet.

Honza, one of the Czech rhino keepers who has been with the northern whites for over 20 years said to me: “If I thought it was a bad Idea I simply wouldn’t be going. We have done all we can with these animals now at the zoo and they deserve one last chance. There’s been no breading for 10 years, we’ve also tried the artificial insemination route, so the best chance they have is in a wild situation.

I had no hesitation in agreeing to work on this project when I knew Dr Pete Morkel was involved. Pete is the most experienced rhino vet in Africa and also has a long history of working with the northern white rhinos in Garamba, translocating rhinos throughout Africa and also from zoos in Europe back to Africa. The fact that he’s involved means that the project and the risks have been properly thought through.

As for the rhinos themselves, yes we have a way to go but they are loving being in Africa – how could they not – this is their natural home. The week we left Dvur Kralove they were able to go out only for one hour a day. Now they are outside 24 hours a day, they’re in great shape and in just over a month they will have 700 over acres to roam in – who would want to deny a zoo animal that after spending all its life in a concrete enclosure.

Of course there are risks with this project but there’s also a chance that the rhinos will breed and their species will be saved. The criticism adds to the pressure but I’m feel proud to be part of this translocation and I’m loving seeing how happy the rhino are here.

We must do everything we can for these last northern white rhinos and lets use this opportunity to get a global message out about the other species of rhino that desperately need help.

The Northern White Rhino Survival Project is a collaboration between Flora and Fauna International, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Dvur Kralove Zoo and Back to Africa.

SUPPORT THE NORTHERN WHITE RHINO SURVIVAL PROJECT