In Africa there are two species of Rhinos; the Black and the White. Neither color properly describes them because they are both gray, but both are found within the boundary of Ol Pejeta. Both species are critically endangered. Some people think Rhino horn is somehow good for them and pay thousands of dollars for it. It is composed of the same protein as hair and fingernails. The only thing rhino horn is good for is rhinos, but because people pay so much for it, poachers are willing to illegally kill these marvelous and strange-looking creatures to try and make money. On Ol Pejeta armed guards are constantly patrolling the property to try and make it safe for both species.
The white rhino is composed of two subspecies and Ol Pejeta has the last two surviving Northern White Rhinos on the planet and they are both females and they are both getting old. We tried to see them in their penned enclosure but we were unsuccessful. The last surviving male was named Sudan and he died in March of 2018. For an article on Sudan by the BBC, click here.
There are both Black and Southern White Rhinos on the rest of the property that are free to move about the conservancy, but guards keep watch on them 24/7; even so, some calves have been killed by resident lions. In 2016, I was able to see a black rhino in Ngorongoro Crater National Park in Tanzania, but we could not get very close. This is the first time I was able to get close enough to any type of rhino in the wild, to get a decent photograph.