A newborn black rhino provides hope for the future!

Photo courtesy of Yathin S Krishnappa/Wikimedia Commons

Last week, rangers working in the Chyulu Hills National Park in Kenya made a truly exciting discovery. On a camera set up to observe the animals, footage revealed a black rhino calf trailing behind its mother, as reported by ABC News.

The rangers had suspected that a new black rhino had been born, as a few months earlier in spring of this year, they had seen “‘distinct’ baby rhino tracks” in the park, according to ABC News. A few months later, the calf was seen on camera for the first time, confirming its birth. 

The calf appeared on camera with its mother named Namunyak. The calf is Namunyak’s first child, and there is a hope that the calf’s birth means that she will go on to have more. The rangers are not yet sure of the gender of the calf, but estimate that it is approximately six months old, a good indicator that it will survive into adulthood, according to the Big Life Foundation which helps protect the National Park alongside the Kenya Wildlife Service. 

This brings the number of black rhinos that live in Chyulu Hills up to a total of nine. The last calf was born less than two years ago in the same area, giving hope that Chylulu Hills is slowly rebuilding its population of black rhinos and that this number will continue to grow in the years to come.

What makes this discovery so exceptional is that black rhinos are a critically endangered species. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are only about 6,500 black rhinos left in the world. The largest threat to their survival is the poaching of the species for their horn, with 98 percent of the species having disappeared due to poaching between 1960 and 1995, according to the World Wildlife Fund. 

Due to efforts made by many wildlife conservation and protection organizations, the population has managed to increase again, going from less than 2,500 black rhinos to their current population size of over 6,000, which though significantly better, is by no means adequate. Black rhinos, like many species, also face the threat of habitat loss as humans take over more and more of the world.

Chyulu Hills, which is protected by both the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Big Life Foundation, contain areas that are working on rebuilding the black rhino population, and are gradually making progress. Other organizations like the World Wildlife Fund have also taken efforts to protect the species, such as tracking black rhino populations and monitoring them in order to keep a better eye on potential poachers who may be a threat to them.

Consider donating to funds and organizations that help protect black rhinos. There are many organizations out there–many of which have been mentioned in this article–who have the resources to help keep black rhinos safe, and would be so grateful for your help to do so.

Keep yourself educated and always look out for another way to help. Words like “extinction” and “endangered” are words that many of us are getting used to hearing. Let’s not allow yet another species to disappear right under our noses.