With their hulking stature, leathery hides, and formidable horns, rhinos appear to be invincible. Daphne Sheldrick used to call rhinos ‘the last living dinosaurs.’ It’s a fitting epithet: Over the past 60 million years, they have braved ice ages, battled prehistoric predators, and biologically adapted for the modern world.

Not so long ago, Kenya was teeming with black rhinos. In fact, they were so ubiquitous that they were the original emblem for our National Parks. No game drive in Tsavo was complete without experiencing a full-blown rhino charge as one barrelled out of the bush.

But somewhere along the line, a belief took hold that rhino horn has magical, curative properties and is a prized symbol of wealth. In reality, rhino horn is mostly keratin, much like a human fingernail.

Today, it is a rarity to see even a single black rhino in Tsavo. Over the past 50 years, a population of 20,000 has dwindled to as few as 1,000 in Kenya. Poaching is largely to blame. And yet, today's numbers give us reason for hope: Ten years ago, after decades of poaching, just 500 black rhinos remained in the country. To double the population of a species over the course of ten years, from 500 to a thousand, is impressive indeed — and irrefutable proof that field-level conservation measures, bolstered by global anti-poaching campaigns, truly work.

Rhinos are inextricably linked with our past, present, and future. During their early Tsavo days, Daphne and David Sheldrick were among the first people in Kenya to successfully raise orphaned rhinos. Over the years, we have successfully raised 19 orphaned black rhinos.

In the 1970s, orphaned rhinos Stroppy and Hoshim were translocated to Solio Ranch, where they became the founding population of the renowned Solio Rhino Sanctuary. In 1982, in partnership with the KWS, we funded the formation of Kenya’s first rhino sanctuaries, in Tsavo West and Lake Nakuru National Parks.

As we raise Kenya’s orphaned rhinos, we are also committed to protecting their wild brethren. In 2022, we donated six customised rhino crates to the KWS Animal Capture Unit. These crates have been put to good use, translocating rhinos out of conflict zones and into viable habitats.

We also continue to support Meru Rhino Sanctuary, a vital stronghold for rhinos within Meru National Park. In 2017, we funded a large-scale fenceline project to expand the sanctuary and upgrade its facilities. This nearly doubled the sanctuary’s size, providing both increased space and upgraded security for its growing rhino population. On an annual basis, we fund essential infrastructure and operating costs in Meru Rhino Sanctuary, ensuring teams are fully equipped to protect the sanctuary. We also donated a new Land Cruiser to be used in the landscape for security patrols and operations.

We also devote significant time and resources to rhino conservation within the Tsavo Conservation Area. In 2023, our Aerial Unit conducted regular rhino monitoring and surveillance in Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, the Intensive Protection Zone in Tsavo West National Park, and the IPZ in Tsavo East National Park, all of which are home to significant populations of critically endangered black rhinos. Over the course of 2023, our pilots dedicated 180.6 aerial hours to rhino surveillance, flying 22,714 kilometres.

Earlier this year, our pilots took part in an eight-day mission in the Mara to ear-notch and GPS sensor-tag 13 black rhinos. This was done to enhance the protection of these endangered species, ensuring that each can be easily identified, located, and accounted for.

And of course, our SWT/KWS Mobile Veterinary Units are at the frontlines of rhino conservation. From emergency treatments to technical cases that support their protection, our teams are there to answer the call for any rhino in need. To date, they have attended to 415 rhino cases, supporting 995 individuals in the process.

Through our Orphans’ Project, we have successfully hand-raised 19 orphaned black rhinos to date. Each orphan rescued represents the possibility of future generations — and indeed, many of our ex-orphan rhinos have gone on to raise their own families in the wild. Solio, an black rhino we rescued in 2010, is now living wild in Nairobi National Park and a mother of two.

We currently have three young orphaned rhinos in our care — Apollo, Chamboi, and Raha — along with our Nursery mainstay, Maxwell, who is blind and has a forever home with us.

Chamboi, our social butterfly

Raha, our little survivor

Apollo, our stubborn shadow

Maxwell, our Nursery patriarch