Move kills seven rhinos

Seven out of 14 critically endangered black rhinos died after being moved to a new reserve in southern Kenya, wildlife officials admitted yesterday.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has refused to comment on the deaths but, speaking on condition of anonymity, one official said: “Seven of the rhinos died, but it has not been established why.”

A second KWS officer also confirmed the deaths, but said an investigation had to be done before the information was made public.

The relocation of endangered animals involves sedating them for the journey and then reviving them in a process that carries risks. But the loss of half of them is highly unusual.

The black rhinos were moved from Nairobi and Lake Nakuru national parks to Tsavo East last month in an operation trumpeted by Tourism Minister Najib Balala. He has yet to comment on the tragic outcome.

Prominent Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu said: “Rhinos have died, we have to say it openly when it happens, not a week later or a month later. Something must have gone wrong and we want to know what it was.”

Save the Rhinos estimates there are fewer than 5 500 black rhinos in the world, all in Africa, while Kenya’s black rhino population is 750, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

According to KWS, nine rhinos were killed in Kenya last year. In May, three more were shot dead in a specially protected sanctuary in northern Kenya and their horns removed.

In March, the last male northern white rhino on earth was euthanased by Kenyan vets after falling ill. – AFP