By Robert Waweru and Linda Muriuki-Mabuka
OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY, Kenya, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Resting
under the cool of an acacia tree in Kenya, nine-year old Fatu
seems perfectly at home in the hot and grassy enclosure that has
been her dwelling for the last month.
The 1,800 kg (3,960 lb) female rhino is one of four northern
white rhinos -- the only ones now in a position to breed -- sent
to Kenya from a zoo in the Czech Republic with one sole purpose:
to make babies.
Only eight of the endangered subspecies remain, the other
four being also in capitivity, say Ol Pejeta conservationists.
So the onus lies on the massive shoulders of Fatu, her
20-year old mother Najin, 38-year-old grandfather Sudan and
another male Suni, 36, to save the race.
Having lived most of their lives in the Czech republic, the
four will need time to adapt to their new surroundings at
Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy that is now their home.
"Everyone of us wants one of those animals to be pregnant as
quickly as possible but we've got to be realistic about it. We
need to introduce them, we need to get them out in the right
environment, the right space to start breeding," said Batian
Craig, security manager at Ol Pejeta.
"If we can say that in a year from now that we have a
pregnant female, that would be incredible."
But that is no easy task.
Opponents of the move say that the animals are at risk
because they have spent all of their lives in very different
conditions from those they are experiencing now in Africa.
The animals must be introduced to virtually everything,
including electric fences and new food. In their Czech zoo, the
four lived on a diet of carrots, brown bread, apples and hay,
but in Kenya they must learn to graze in grassy enclosures.
They have to adapt to 26 degrees Celsius temperatures and
being outdoors all the time compared with living in heated
concrete enclosures in their previous home. The animals were
loaded into their crates for Africa in minus 15 degree weather.
However, the strong African sun has been good. A skin
condition afflicting Fatu has disappeared in the few weeks since
their arrival around Christmas, says Dana Holechkova, director
of the Dvur Kralove zoo that repatriated the animals.
LEARNING SWAHILI
The rhinos must learn a new language too. They only respond
to Czech commands but the rangers in Kenya mostly speak Swahili.
Ol Pejeta warder Mohammed Doyo has learnt to call out "Pojd'
honem" which means "come quickly", but the rhinos will also have
to learn "kuja haraka", the same command in Swahili, he said.
Holechkova said the four were enjoying discovering their new
home. "They look to me like they are more happy here," she said.
"They are having mud baths, eating growing grass, it's
something they had never had before. That alone is a major
achievement, bringing them through those steps. Next step is
putting them in the wild and that will be the challenge, but the
few changes we have seen are hugely positive."
The plan is to move the rhinos to more spacious enclosures
to give them a sense of the wilderness, although they will
remain within the protected area of the conservancy.
For the first time, the rhinos have trees on which to
sharpen their horns, which were sawn down to stubs so they would
not injure themselves in their crates on the long-haul flight.
The rhino's trip took 26 hours from Prague to Nairobi, cost
90,000 euros ($127,800) and the whole project will require
another $600,000 over the next three years.
But conservationists say that is peanuts compared to what
poachers earn from selling the prized horn that is used for
aphrodisiacs in the Far East and dagger handles in Yemen.
The street value for a kilo of rhino horn is 220,000
shillings ($2,900).
White rhinos are the largest land mammals after elephants
and typically live in herds of up to 14 animals. Their numbers
have slumped from about 500 in the 1970s mainly due to poaching.
The endangered white northern rhinos are native to Africa,
north of the equator. Ol Pejeta has several southern white
rhinos but they will not be allowed to mate with Fatu or Najin.
The Czech zoo first became home to the white rhinos in 1975
when Sudan and a female arrived from Sudan, aged two and three.
Zoologists encouraged the animals to breed but after initial
success there has been only one birth in the past 10 years.
"These four animals are the last living chance to get this
subspecies back," Craig said.
"That is massive and we have to give them the best
opportunity. We don't want to rush it because rushing it will
bring mistakes but if we ... let rhinos do what rhinos do best
in the wild, I'm sure we're going to be successful."
(Writing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Editing by Elizabeth
Fullerton)
