Northern White Rhinos

in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy

In December 2009, the Dvur Kralove Zoo sent four northern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) to the Ol Pejetea Conservancy, Kenya. The zoo is the only animal park in the world where the northern white rhino has been bred, however, it was back in 2000 when the last calf was born. So the rhinos were shipped to Africa in the hope that natural surroundings close to their original habitat would prompt their breeding.

Northern white rhinos are probably the rarest of mammals. The signs of their presence in the wild have not been seen since 2007 and there are only five specimens known to humans at present. All of them are in human care: three in Ol Pejeta, one female in the Dvur Kralove Zoo and one female in San Diego, USA. All of them are owned by the Dvur Kralove Zoo. This fact makes us one of the main institutions involved in efforts to save the northern white rhino.

The long term objective of the translocation has been to establish a viable breeding group and later to reintroduce northern white rhinos into secure habitats within their original range. At the time of transfer, it was still hoped a few northern white rhinos could live in the wild. No wild animal has been found so far, so the main aim at the moment is to get the rhinos breed. The project to save northern white rhinos in Ol Pejeta is run in cooperation with Kenya Wildlife Service - external link , Ol Pejeta Conservancy - external link , Czech Ministry of Environment - external link  and Back to Africa - external link  with support from Fauna & Flora International - external link  and Lewa Conservancy - external link .

Detailed information from the year 2009 about the transport (pdf document):

File download (3.78 MB)

Adopt a Rhino!

You can adopt northern white rhinos that were transferred from Dvur Kralove Zoo to Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The only way you can do it is through the Helping Rhinos website - external link . We highly appreciate any your support to the project! In the case you want to adopt a northern white rhino in Dvur Kralove Zoo, please, click to our adoption program - external link .

Updates on Northern Whites and Ol Pejeta

In the case you look for more detailed information on northern white rhinos and Ol Pejeta, please, contact Jan Stejskal, In Situ Projects Co-ordinator at Dvur Kralove Zoo, jan.stejskal(at)zoodk.cz, or Elodie Sampere, Head of Conservation Marketing at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, elodie.sampere(at)olpejetaconservancy.org

December 2014: Examination of Fatu, Nájin and Sudán

Following the death of the last fertile northern white male in Ol Pejeta Conservancy earlier this year, experts from the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany and the Kenya Wildlife Service gathered in Laikipia, Kenya to carry out health checks on the remaining three rhinos. Dvur Kralove Zoo was home to Najin, Fatu, Suni and Sudan until 2009 – when a bold decision was made to move them to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in the hope that natural conditions would be more conducive to reproduction. Various copulations between the northern whites have been witnessed by their keepers, and even a mating between a southern white male and one of the northern white females, but nothing has come to fruition. It is clear that five years on, and with the sudden death of Suni, more drastic action is going to have to be taken if this species stands any chance of survival.

Despite concerns over age and physical condition, the three rhinos were successfully anaesthetised. Examinations of the two females showed that it is highly unlikely they would be capable of natural reproduction currently. Sadly, the younger rhino Fatu has degenerative lesions in the uterus, but there is still hope that her mother, Najin, could conceive. Her reproductive organs are in good health, but her weak hind legs make it difficult for her to support a mounted male, and could also cause complications during the added weight of pregnancy. Samples from the male, Sudan, showed a low sperm count, with low motility and some morphological abnormality. This does not rule out using his sperm for in vitro fertilisation however.

“We have provided the northern white rhinos with the best possible conditions for natural mating. However, recent death of the last male that was capable of reproduction and current health-state of the remaining three individuals lead to a situation in which the committee of experts in charge of this programme will now need to explore suitable options of artificial reproduction” said Richard Vigne, CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Artificial techniques of reproduction do not come without risks, but experts believe that all other options have now been exhausted – and time is running out. The committee overseeing the project will now discuss the findings from the vet tests and agree on the best way forward.

“We must bear in mind that these rhinos are last of their kind, and we cannot just give up and let them go extinct,“ said Premysl Rabas, director of the Dvur Kralove Zoo.

October 2014: Suni, one of the last seven remaining northern white rhinos, found dead

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of our northern white rhinos, Suni.

Suni was one of the four northern whites residing on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya.  He was born 34 years ago at the Dvur Kralove Zoo as the first-ever northern white rhino to be born in captivity. Together with one other male and two females, he was translocated from our zoo to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in 2009.

Rangers found him on the morning of October 17th, 2014, dead in his boma. Suni was not a victim of poaching and the cause of his sudden death still has to be established. In 2006, his father Saút died in the Dvur Kralove Zoo by natural causes at the same age as Suni was now.

There are now only six northern white rhinos left in the world, all of them are in human care: three in Ol Pejeta, one female in the Dvur Kralove Zoo and an old couple in San Diego, USA. Apart from the old male in San Diego, all other animals are owned by the Dvur Kralove Zoo which is the only zoo that has been able to reproduce them.

Suni was one of the last two breeding males in the world and no northern white rhinos are known to have survived in the wild. Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to greed of the human race.

Dvur Kralove Zoo, together with Ol Pejeta Conservancy, IZW Berlin, AfRSG IUCN and Back to Africa, will continue to do what it can to work with the remaining animals in the hope that our efforts will one day result in the successful birth of a northern white rhino calf.

January 2014: Southern White Male Introduced to Northern Females

The four last remaining fertile northern white rhinos in the world were moved to Ol Pejeta from Dvur Kralove Zoo in 2009, in the hope that the climate and rich grasslands of the conservancy, similar to the  native habitat of this species, would provide them with more favourable breeding conditions. Despite the fact that Suni, one of the males, was seen mating with Najin in 2012, there have still been no successful pregnancies, and time is running out.

For this reason, on the 25th January 2014 a fine and fertile southern white male was translocated from neighbouring Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to the endangered species enclosure on Ol Pejeta. The operation was smooth, with him arriving at his new home just a few hours after being darted by the veterinary unit in Lewa.

The rhinos are not getting any younger, and in a desperate attempt to salvage the species, the expert committee that oversees the efforts to save the northern white rhino decided to introduce a closely related southern white rhino, to the northern whites. If breeding is successful, the hope is that the two females can produce several offspring through ‘inter-crossing’ the subspecies in this way. Although these animals will not be 100% northern white rhinos, they will be conserving the important locally adapted genes for the habitats and environment that the northern white rhino was adapted for and evolved within.

There is future potential for these inter-crossed offspring to be bred back with pure northern whites, and thereby increase the proportion of genes in future generations of a locally adapted genetically healthy white rhino population.

It is also hoped that after conceiving with a southern white rhino bull it would be easier for Fatu and Nájin to get pregnant with a pure northern white rhino - with Suni or by techniques of artificial reproduction.

The Lewa stud has been put in the large enclosure with Fatu and Najin. Why one lucky guy with two females, you might ask? Experience has shown that if female rhinos are presented with competition from other females, they are more likely to cycle and reproduce.