There are only 7 Northern White Rhinos left in existence in the entire world, making them one of the most endangered species. 3 are at a zoo in San Diego and the other 4 are here at Ol Pejeta. The four here were brought from a zoo in the Czech Republic in 2009 to try to give them one last ditch shot at species survival. These 4 rhino (2 males and 2 females) were not breeding in the zoo, so people decided to relocate them back to the "wild" in hopes that a more natural habitat might allow them to start breeding again.
(A note on the photos: The rhinos have been de-horned to discourage poaching and for the safety of their keepers, otherwise they would have large pointy horns)
At Ol Pejeta, the 4 Northern Whites have been put into a large enclosure covering something like 50 acres where they can roam, eat grass for the first time in their lives, and hopefully produce the first offspring in many, many years. In this enclosure Ol Pejeta also put 4 Southern White Rhino females. The Southern White Rhino is a closely related subspecies that they can cross-mate with. So while any resulting Northern White-Southern White crosses born would not be pure Northern White Rhinos anymore... with only 7 individuals left in the world, hybridizing might be their only shot.
And the good news so far... they have started mating! And this female below may be pregnant right now.
And to end with a few close-up shots:
No comments:
Post a Comment