WELCOMING WHITE RHINOS: SERA COMMUNITY CELEBRATES ITS NEWEST RESIDENTS

Dawn breaks over Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya. The air comes alive with banter, as teams of wildlife experts—mostly veterinarians and community conservancy scouts, chat on their two-way radios while gearing up.

A busy day lies ahead of them. It is the 9th of February. Today, they will conduct a historic translocation exercise. Many hours have gone into thoroughly planning this operation. They are ready to roll.

Doors slam shut, engines roar to life, and a convoy of trucks begins to make its way through the vast expanse that is Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

Half an hour later, the trucks grind to a halt, metres away from a herd of six white rhinos. Standing alert, the rhinos appear to be in tactical formation, poised to react.

The teams alight from their vehicles, careful not to startle the herd any further. The safety of the team members, their equipment, and the rhinos is paramount.

After a brief consultation, a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) veterinarian positions a tranquilizer gun on his shoulder and peers through the scope. He scans the area for a rhino named Sarah and spots her. The veterinarian pulls the trigger, and a perfectly aimed dart lands on Sarah’s back.

Stunned and puzzled, Sarah waddles away from the herd, as the sedative begins to take effect. Time is of the essence at this stage. Every second counts. The ground teams swing into action. One team gently leads Sarah to an isolated spot, while another prevents the rest of the herd and onlookers from coming within her range.

Sarah’s steps become increasingly slower. She bellows and falls to the ground. The teams swiftly cover her eyes with a large blindfold. A veterinarian partially reverses the sedative, allowing her to stay calm and breathe deeply and slowly. Periodically, water is sprayed on Sarah to cool her body.

A wildlife specialist then drills a hole into her horn and fits a small GPS tag. A tag is also attached to Sarah’s ear. The drilling and tagging pose no harm to Sarah and will facilitate comprehensive monitoring of her movements in the days to come.

“Ensuring Sarah's vitals remain stable throughout the procedure is critical,” explains Dr. Mukami Ruoro-Oundo, a wildlife veterinarian on site. “Our team worked meticulously to monitor her condition and ensure her safety every step of the way.”

With the tagging procedure complete, Dr. Mukami prepares the antidote for the sedative and carefully administers it into a vein in Sarah's leg. Almost immediately, Sarah begins to show signs of awakening. Her breathing becomes more regular, and her ears twitch in response to the sounds around her. The teams remain close, ready to assist. Slowly, Sarah lifts her head. The teams remove her blindfold and support her in rising to her feet, ensuring she remains steady. Within moments, Sarah stands tall again. Her eyes adjust to the light as she takes in her surroundings.

As soon as Sarah regains her strength, the teams steer her into a steel-reinforced crate on the ground. Working with immense care, several community conservancy scouts coax Sarah into moving forward, using soothing voices and gentle prods, and when that fails, pure strength as the team unites to push the two-ton animal forward.

Others stand by with ropes and harnesses, ready to provide support without causing her stress. Inch by inch, Sarah moves closer to the crate, her massive frame swaying with each step.

The teams maintain a steady pace, prioritising her safety and comfort throughout the process. After what feels like an eternity, Sarah is fully inside the crate.

The teams cheer in jubilation. The most difficult tasks of the day are now complete. A crane lifts the crate onto a truck, and Sarah is secured for the journey ahead, which will see her moved from Lewa to a new home in Sera Community Conservancy, an NRT member in Samburu County in northern Kenya. She is the first of four rhinos scheduled to undergo this process.

Between the 9th and 10th of February this year, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the KWS and NRT collaboratively translocated four southern white rhino individuals (two female, two male), from Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to Sera Community Conservancy.

“It was a momentous occasion, a joyful time for community members as they celebrated the arrival of the conservancy’s first white rhinos,” Sera Community Conservancy Manager, Reuben Lendira, shares. He adds that some members followed the entire process ardently, and even showed up at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy during the early stages of the operation.

Sera's white rhino translocation exercise has expanded white rhino habitat to more locations, making it easier to preserve and protect this endangered species. The translocation has also solidified Sera Conservancy’s standing as a pioneer and model for community-driven wildlife conservation on the continent. In 2015, Sera’s community members established Sera Rhino Sanctuary, a 107-square-kilometre conservation area, renowned as East Africa’s first community-owned breeding sanctuary for black rhinos. With the support of NRT, KWS and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, 10 critically endangered black rhinos were translocated to Sera, forming the Sanctuary’s founding population.

In the 1990s, the lack of a proper legal framework for curbing poaching, and cyclic inter-ethnic conflict led to a rapid decline of the black rhino population in northern Kenya. To address this, Sera Community Conservancy gradually implemented robust rhino conservation strategies and peacebuilding initiatives. These concerted efforts made by the community, NRT and partners, resulted in the steady recovery and growth of black rhino numbers, saving the species from the brink of extinction.

Sera Rhino Sanctuary has created employment opportunities for the indigenous community, employing 114 members in various roles, including conservancy scouts and rhino caregivers. The Sanctuary provides the community with much-needed income through tourism, which funds initiatives such as water development, health, and education bursaries.

Before the translocation of the four white rhinos, Sera Rhino Sanctuary experienced a 100% growth in its rhino population, and the Sanctuary was home to 21 individuals, having started with a founding population of 10 in 2015. Even more impressive is the fact that there have been no incidents of rhino poaching in the Sanctuary since its inception.

State-of-the-art technology significantly enhances Sera Rhino Sanctuary’s rhino protection initiatives. Each of the four newly translocated white rhinos was fitted with GPS trackers that transmit crucial information, including their location and movements, to the digital systems at the Conservancy’s operations centre. This data is analysed in real time using EarthRanger technology. Sanctuary staff can also access and monitor the data on remote devices such as tablets. This capability enables the Sanctuary to make informed operational decisions and respond swiftly to potential threats or emergencies, ensuring the safety and well-being of the rhinos. The data is also transmitted to an EarthRanger system in the Joint Operations and Communications Centre (JOCC) at NRT headquarters. The CNN Inside Africa episode shows this system in action and how it saved Sarah’s life a few weeks after her translocation to Sera.

Since October 2023, NRT has been deploying EarthRanger software in five other member community conservancies, namely, Naibunga Lower, Kalama, Westgate, Kiunga, and Pate, as part of its efforts to bolster technology-led wildlife protection. CNN’s article, ‘Find my Friends for rhinos’: How high-tech tracking is keeping tabs on wildlife, sheds more light on how Sera Community Conservancy and NRT use EarthRanger to protect wildlife species.

On the 9th of February, just as the sun began to set, a crane lowered Sarah’s crate down next to a river lined with doum palms and surrounded by beautiful hills in Sera Community Conservancy. Sarah, tired after the long journey, wandered out of her crate into her new home. As she walked off into the distance, the team of community conservancy scouts and veterinarians cheered. They had successfully completed Sarah’s translocation.

Sarah and her fellow rhinos are gradually adapting to life in Sera Rhino Sanctuary. Thanks to dedicated teams in the Sanctuary and Sera Wildlife Conservancy, these majestic creatures are thriving in a protected environment. Cutting-edge EarthRanger tracking technology ensures their safety, while the enriched habitat supports their growth and well-being. The rhinos freely roam the Sanctuary, symbolising a giant leap forward in community conservation, and a new era for their species in northern Kenya.