Celebrating World Rhino Day: Secure their Future
Hope on the Move – Kenya’s Rhino Plan in Action
Today, on World Rhino Day, we honor one of our greatest conservation stories and the bold steps still being taken to secure it. Every rhino translocation carries more than muscle and might; it carries a nation’s dream.
In Kenya, these carefully orchestrated journeys are not just about moving endangered giants from one protected area to another. They are about rewriting history—reversing decades of decline, expanding safe havens, and breathing new life into a species that once stood at the brink.
Each operation reinforces Kenya’s National Rhino Conservation and Management Action Plan – a bold blueprint to reduce poaching, grow rhino populations through habitat expansion and expert care, and secure the funding needed to meet ambitious recovery targets.
Last month, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Loisaba Conservancy came together to take one such step – a move full of hope and alive with possibility.
A white rhino being guided to a translocation crate. ©Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
This August, history was made. For the very first time, white rhinos now roam the wilds of Loisaba Conservancy. Ten southern white rhinos were translocated during a carefully orchestrated operation, and six of them came from the Lewa-Borana landscape.
It was no simple journey. Over ten days, veterinarians, rangers, pilots and trackers worked as one, using advanced techniques to ease the rhinos into transport, each heartbeat watched with care. As Dr. Isaac Lekolool of the Kenya Wildlife Service explained:
“The process allows the rhino to walk into the transport crate, giving veterinarians time to monitor their vital signs and reduce stress.”
This milestone came just a year after Loisaba welcomed back black rhinos, expanding Kenya’s safe havens for the species. Each translocation is more than a move – it is recovery in motion, a chance for rhinos to reclaim landscapes where their hoofbeats once fell silent.
But these victories are costly, requiring specialized equipment, skilled personnel, and round-the-clock monitoring long after release. That’s why your support matters.
On this World Rhino Day, the story of Loisaba reminds us that conservation is about shaping the future. And together, we are writing that future, one rhino at a time.
Kitui with his caregiver. ©Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Every rhino entering the world must struggle for survival, but Kitui has faced greater challenges than most. Born in 2015 to a blind mother named Mawingo, he didn’t receive the maternal nurturing most calves depend on.
Hand-raised at Lewa alongside his older brother, Elvis, Kitui grew under human care. When the time came to release him, the hope was that he would thrive in the wild as Elvis had. Earlier this year, a courageous decision was made: to give Kitui a new beginning at Segera Retreat & Conservancy. There, on a landscape unfamiliar yet forgiving, something extraordinary is happening.
Kitui has begun to flourish; not just surviving, but leading. Rangers now describe him as a standout—strong, confident, and far ahead of his peers who made the journey with him.
Kitui thriving at Segera Retreat & Conservancy. ©Segera Retreat & Conservancy
Kitui’s journey reminds us of a simple truth: every rhino matters, and every life is worth fighting for. With care, persistence, and your support, struggle can be transformed into triumph.
On this World Rhino Day, your gift will fuel the efforts that move rhinos into safer havens, sustain the guardians who watch over them, and ensure that stories like Kitui’s do not end too soon.
Join Lewa’s Rhino Crash with a monthly gift of $25 to provide ongoing support to our rhino conservation efforts. You’ll receive exclusive updates throughout the year about Lewa’s rhinos and the steps being taken to safeguard them.
Stand with us as we work towards a brighter future for Kenya’s rhinos.
