In September, we celebrated World Rhino Day, a day to raise awareness for all five rhino species and to highlight the work that is being done around the world to increase their numbers . This day is celebrated across the globe annually however on Borana Conservancy, this is every day.
The Borana Conservancy is a wildlife conservation area found at the foothills of Mt Kenya West of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Conservation efforts on Lewa began in the early 1980s to protect the last of northern Kenya’s black rhinos from extinction. In 2013, a founding population of 21 black rhinos was introduced to Borana Conservancy. Once they were settled and had established territories, the fences between Borana and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy were dropped forming one landscape; allowing the wildlife free rein over 92,000 acres of unspoilt African wilderness. Today, the Borana-Lewa Landscape hosts a thriving community of over 255 rhinos (both black and white), making this one of East Africa’s largest continuous rhino habitats and home to 46% of Kenya’s black rhino population. Even though Lewa and Borana are still separate organisations, they cooperate through their security and conservation measures. .
With the use of the Earth Ranger (ER), conservation technology has significantly enhanced rhino data collecting and protection of the conservancy. Real-time tracking of wildlife movement using this technology, when paired with simple actions, has helped prevent many instances of conflict between humans and wildlife and increased knowledge of animal migration routes.
Guests of Lengishu can experience first hand what efforts the conservancy goes to to look after the rhino. Every morning rangers are deployed to patrol the conservancy and report on the numbers of rhino and their position. Guests are invited to join the rangers in various zones across the conservancy, gaining a true behind the scenes view of how a successful rhino conservation area is run. This experience involves an early rise and a beautiful walk across the conservancy with the binos firmly attached for the first to spot a rhino. To add a bit of Lengishu flair, at the end of the experience, the rangers deliver guests to a secret spot under vast Euphorbia Trees for a delicious bush breakfast all set up by the Lengishu staff.
The rangers cover multiple miles a day to keep account of the rhinos but this is just a fraction of what is done on the conservancy every day and guests being able to experience this first hand is essential in raising awareness of this beautiful species.
