Ol Pejeta Conservancy

It is hard to believe that entire animal species are wiped off the face of the Earth because of the impact and destruction caused by one solo species, homo sapiens. As a kid, the Dodo bird was the animal that introduced me to the concept of extinction and the various uses of the word, “extinct, extinction, soon to be extinct, on the brink of extinction”. The Dodo bird was a flightless bird found on the island of Mauritius by the Dutch around the 1600s. It was driven to extinction by over-hunting, habitat loss and becoming prey to invasive species brought over by the Dutch sailors. Along with the Dodo bird, many animal species no longer exist on the planet due to causes related to human development – pollution, habitat loss, over-hunting, over-population, climate change, etc. RY and I read through a report by the United Nations “Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’” released in May 2023 at the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Summit in Paris. Over 680 vertebrae species have been driven to extinction since the 1600s and over 1 million plant and animal species are currently under threat of extinction.

During my research on Kenya, I came to learn that only two Northern White Rhinos, both female, remain in the world. They live at Ol Pejeta Conservancy near Nanyuki. To know this is both just as unbelievable as it is tragic. About 100 years ago, there were over five-hundred thousand rhinos that roamed Africa and Asia. By 1970, the numbers dropped to 70,000 and today there are less than 27,000 rhinos that survive mainly in national parks and protected sanctuaries. (WWF. Rhino Fact File.)

I wanted to visit Ol Pejeta with my family to see with my own eyes what there is left to do when a species is teetering on the brink of extinction, when only two animals of that species remain. What measures can be taken to turn back time and rebuild a species that was decimated as a direct result of man’s actions. Besides feeling regret and sadness, what active steps can be taken by an organization or individuals that want to make a difference as the existence of a species hangs in the balance.

The entrance gate to Ol Pejeta Conservancy was just a few minutes’ drive from our Airbnb. The overall game viewing in Ol Pejeta paled in comparison to Enonkishu and Masai Mara area but we did see quite a few zebras that had a different stripe pattern than those in Mara. We were lucky to spot a herd of Black Rhinos grazing on the plains. There were also large herds of Ankole cows with massive horns perched on their heads. This is an example of the conservancy model where wildlife and livestock can co-exist harmoniously.

Our first stop was to the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary that was opened under a cooperation between Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya Wildlife Service and the Jane Goodall Institute in 1993. It is currently home to about 30 chimps. The mission of Sweetwaters is to give rescued Chimps a safe and comfortable home where they can live out their remaining days. Chimps are not native to Kenya, rather are found in other parts of Africa. The sanctuary is not involved in breeding and does not reintroduce the animals back into the wild because the animals that come to them suffer from trauma or abuse and have lost the skills to survive in the wild. Many of the animals are rescued from poachers, zoos, circuses or private homes where they were kept as pets.

We were taken on a tour of the grounds by a ranger who walked us through the excellent information center. Chimpanzees are our closest relative, sharing 98.6% of the same genes as humans. It was once believed that what distinguished humans from animals was our ability to use tools. This theory was dispelled when Chimpanzees were observed using tools such as a stick to collect termites and drinking water using a leaf. Chimpanzees are clever animals and were shown to be able to solve various puzzles that require logical thinking and delayed gratification.

Unfortunately, Chimpanzees are critically endangered. There are an estimated less than 300,000 Chimps left in the wild. The main causes are habitat loss and poaching, including the bush meat trade. Adult Chimps are hunted and killed for their meat while baby chimps are illegally trafficked across Africa and to other countries to become caged exhibits in zoos and circuses or pets in private homes. Like all babies, young chimps are cute and gentle but when they get older, they can become aggressive and unpredictable. Once this happens, they have been found to be kept in cages barely large enough for them to move around.

We then went to visit the Chimpanzees themselves in their home. The Chimps have their own area where they can roam freely within Ol Pejeta, separated by the rest of the conservancy by an electric fence. They can find their own food but this is usually not enough so it is supplemented with three meals a day. The ranger called to the Chimps to entice them to come closer to the fence. There were a few Chimps in view but only one ventured closer. Her name was Judy and she was using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. As Chimps get older, their eyes can develop a sensitivity to the sun. We walked further along and could spot three or four more Chimps but they did not come out of the trees to allow us a closer view. We could tell that each of the Chimps had their own personality, some shy while others playful and bold.

After a while, a few Chimps were calling to each other in conversation. We asked the ranger what was happening. He smiled and said, “They are calling each other for lunch time.” Even without knowing the time, they can tell with great accuracy when lunch is being served.

We left Sweetwaters and drove a short distance to visit Baraka, a Black Rhino that lives under the care of the conservancy. He is blind in both eyes due to cataracts so is unable to survive in the wild. Baraka is used as an ambassador to promote education. When we visited, there was a group of school children on a field trip having lunch in the picnic area.

In the Rhino family, there are two species, the Black Rhino and the White Rhino, of which there are two subspecies, the Northern White Rhino and the Southern White Rhino. The White Rhino is larger in size compared to the Black Rhino. They are also grazers, which means they eat grass, compared to Black Rhinos who are browsers, which means they eat higher trees and shrubs. As grazers, White Rhinos have a square jaw which makes it easier to eat the grass that grows from the soil. As browsers, Black Rhinos have a pointy mouth that makes it easier to eat the leaves that grow from shrubs and trees.

For hundreds of years, Rhinos have been hunted for their horns. A major source of demand for rhino horns comes from Asia, particularly Vietnam and China, where the horn is used in traditional medicine. In recent decades, with increasing wealth in Asia, the demand for Rhino horns has skyrocketed.

All types of rhinos are critically endangered but it is the Northern White Rhino, that is native to Sudan that is in the greatest danger. The world’s only four remaining Northern White Rhinos (two males and two females) were transported from a zoo in the Czech Republic in 2009 and taken to Ol Pejeta hoping they would more likely mate in their natural environment.

While we were visiting the Nairobi National Museum a few weeks ago, we saw a life-sized model of the world’s last remaining male Northern White Rhino, Sudan, who died in 2018. The two surviving Northern White Rhino in Ol Pejeta, Najin and Fatu, are both female. This creates a problem for continuation of the species. During our visit, a guide shared with us that both of the females are unable to conceive naturally and even if impregnated, are unlikely to carry to term and delivery healthy babies. IVF (in-vitro fertilization) was the solution – eggs were extracted from both females and artificially inseminated in a lab, using semen collected from male Northern White Rhinos while they were alive in zoos. Specialists then implanted the fertilized eggs in a Southern White Rhino surrogate. He wasn’t exactly sure when that was going to happen.

Just before I was preparing to write this article, a follower of our blog, a friend of my mom’s, sent us the title to a fascinating article from National Geographic, “There are two northern white rhinos left on Earth. Can a controversial approach save them?” It was timely and fortuitous as this was the backstory that I wanted to better understand. What can actually be done to save a species, that is two females away from extinction, when it is too late for traditional conservation approaches?

In greater detail, the article describes what the guide told me at Ol Pejeta. An international team of conservationists, scientists and capitalists are working together to save the species. In short, an organization called BioRescue collected eggs from Nanjin and Fatu in 2019. The eggs were transported to Avantea, a lab in Italy, where they were artificially inseminated from the sperm of Northern White Rhinos that was collected while they were alive in zoos. BioRescue has plans to implant an embryo in a surrogate Southern White Rhino in Ol Pejeta with the aim of delivering a healthy calf by 2025. A bio-tech company based in Texas, has been pulled in to use gene-editing tools to create greater genetic diversity in the embryos to increase the chance of survival for the species. Wow.

It is man’s greed or ignorance that pushed this species to the brink of extinction and it will be man’s ingenuity that brings it back to life, one way or another.