There were an estimated 20,000 rhinos in the country in the 1970s.
Rampant poaching saw the population plummet to just 381 by 1990.
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Rhino with her male calf at Sera Rhino Sanctuary/KWS
The government has announced an elaborate plan to creating more room for the increasing black rhino population in the country to roam.
The 2021 national wildlife census report that was carried out in April-July that year showed that there were 897 black rhinos in Kenya.
To help secure space for the species, Kenya Wildlife Service last week held a high-level stakeholders meeting in Nanyuki under the Kenya Rhino Range Expansion Initiative.
The initiative seeks to transform Kenya’s conservation landscape and to drive socioeconomic growth.
By restoring and expanding black rhino populations across their historic range, the initiative seeks to increase Kenya’s rhino habitat to become one of the largest in the world.
Authorities also see the move as a catalyst for the creation of new jobs, ecological integrity, economic prosperity, and national pride.
KWS Director General Prof. Erustus Kanga said the initiative will help transform Kenya’s ecological and socio-economic landscape.
“By restoring black rhinos across their historic range in Laikipia, the Kenya Rhino Range Expansion Initiative seeks to establish one of the world’s largest rhino habitats—spanning more than 34,000 km², almost six per cent of Kenya’s landmass,” Kanga said.
Kanga said the initiative represents a legacy of protection, prosperity, and unity—one that future generations will remember with admiration for the leaders, partners, and communities who made it possible.
There were an estimated 20,000 rhinos in the country in the 1970s.
Rampant poaching saw the population plummet to just 381 by 1990.
Decades of unwavering commitment by rangers, scientists, conservancies, communities, and partners, has seen the population in Kenya surpass 1,000 black rhinos in 2024—a global conservation triumph.
The increase has, however, introduced new challenges.
Overcrowding in existing rhino sanctuaries is limiting further growth.
Rhinos also engage in fierce fights to protect their territories.
To address some of the challenges, the new initiative seeks to secure connected habitats across Tsavo and Central Kenya, opening vast new landscapes for rhinos to roam while enhancing genetic diversity.
The latest initiative aims to grow Kenya’s black rhino population to over 2,000 by 2037 and 3,900 by 2050, contributing significantly to the recovery of the species worldwide.
Kenya's rhino population is managed as a meta-population (a number of sub-populations of a species or sub-species managed collectively as one single population with occasional movement of animals from one sub-population to another) hosted in 17 rhino conservation sites spread across the country.
