Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the largest Black Rhino Sanctuary in East Africa is delighted to inform you of two new additions to our black rhino population. Both within one week!

The first of two rhino calves made an appearance on Kenya’s Jamhuri Day, 12th Dec 2007. The calf has been appropriately named Jamhuri and was born to Njoki, one of the rhinos translocated in February 2007 from Solio Ranch to Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Njoki’s capture was one of the toughest. She was darted four times and tracked unsuccessfully for 1 hour. After the first dart, she ran across the Solio marsh covering the longest distance of all the rhinos captured on Solio. When she finally succumbed to the drug, her breathing was unstable. As a result she was unable to be fitted with a radio transmitter or have her ear’s notched for identification. Eight months after her traumatic capture, she has successfully delivered her calf!

The second calf was spotted by Ol Pejeta’s rhino patrolmen only 3 days after Jamhuri’s appearance, on the 15th Dec 2007. This calf was born to Tatizo, a female from Ol Pejeta that was first identified during an ear notching exercise in 2005. This is Tatizo’s first calf and her estimated age at first calving is 9.9 years. A suitable name has yet to be found for Tatizo’s calf.

Black rhino’s deliver their calves in dense bush and stay hidden for safety. They are viciously protective, making it impossible for Ol Pejeta’s rhino patrol teams to get close enough to identify the sex of a calf. Both Jamhuri and Tatizo’s calf are yet to be sexed.

These 2 new arrivals happily bring the total number of black rhinos on Ol Pejeta to 77: 38 males, 32 females and 7 unsexed calves.

What better Christmas gift could we have hoped for?

For more information on Ol Pejeta Conservancy, visit www.olpejetaconservancy.org