The area had over 200 eastern black rhinos in the 1960s but the last gone extinct in 1985. Restoration efforts started in the 1990s by the Government of Tanzania in collaboration with George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust (GAWPT) under TonyFitzjohn as Field Director. GAWPT brought the founder population of the first four black rhinos from Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa (RSA). Four more translocations were brought in the years 2001, 2009, 2012 and 2016 involving 11 East African subspecies (D. b. Michaeli) individuals from the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom making a total of eleven individuals. The numbers have now increased to over 35 by the year 2021.
The capacity has also been developed to park staff on rescue, care and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned rhinos. In the past two years, one orphaned baby rhino named Kisima was rescued in the wild at about three months following the sudden death of the mother because of sand colic. The calf was taken care of by caretakers and is now 15 months old in good health condition.
No Comments