Groups push to grow rhino numbers

The organisation said it was working to protect rhinos through training of rangers to patrol in areas of wildlife conservation in Kenya and Zambia to protect them from poachers or providing rescue, rehabilitation and release back to the wild of orphaned and injured rhinos in India.

Meanwhile, KWS held countrywide celebrations to commemorate World Rhino Day, and also launched the Recovery and Action Plan for the Black Rhino at the Club House in Nairobi National Park last Friday.

Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza highlighted the milestones that Kenya has achieved in rhino conservation in the last three decades since the establishment of KWS in 1989.

She said there are 33 mammalian, 28 avian and 356 plant species in Kenya whose survival is threatened, with the black rhino being one of them.

The main threats emanate from human activities including; climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, poaching, illegal wildlife trade and human-wildlife conflict.

"My ministry is fast-tracking clearance of the pending compensation claims and providing necessary support to the communities which bear the brunt of wildlife," Malonza said.

She noted that Kenya's wildlife and heritage are the main anchor to the tourism industry.