Another rhino baby ‘arrives’ on Ziwa

RHINO NUMBER 14 ARRIVES AT ZIWA – THE NATURAL WAY

(Posted 15th January 2014)

Being currently the Acting Chairman of the Rhino Fund Uganda – my successor in office Dirk Ten Brink left Uganda for good last year prompting me to step up once again and walk the talk of conservation commitment – it is my great pleasure to break the news that Kori has this late afternoon given birth to another rhino baby, fathered also by the dominant bull Taleo. The newborn was a few hours later confirmed to be another rhino baby girl.

It is to the day exactly two years that Kori gave birth to her second rhino ‘child’, named Laloyo, reaffirming the fact that the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has accomplished the arguably fastest rate of reproduction recorded anywhere, due to the conducive conditions on the 17.000 acre large conservancy, the excellent care by veterinarians and the constant protective cover given to the rhinos by the RFU ranger force and UWA rangers.

The sanctuary initially had two breeding pairs, later supplemented by a donation from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida from where another pair was flown into Uganda, and the three females have now given birth to three and two babies respectively – another birth is expected in March this year.

The sanctuary for the only rhinos in Uganda’s wild was made possible through the generosity of Capt. Joe Roy and his wife Daisy, who moved the cattle off their Ziwa Ranch and then granted an initial 30 year land use right agreement. Donations from the European Union, the US Fish and Wildlife and a number of other donors made it subsequently possible to create a double electric and standard fencing system around the sanctuary, restore ranch buildings and turn them into offices and a workshop.

From the initial six adult rhinos the population on Ziwa has today risen to 14 and by Easter this year it is expected that the overall number will stand at 15, all things going well.

Congratulations to Angie Genade, Executive Director of the Rhino Fund Uganda and her entire team for this ongoing success story, which saw the once extinct rhinos, poached out of existence in Uganda in the early 1980’s, return to the country and grow in numbers, allowing visitors to see all the Big Five while on safari across the Pearl of Africa.