Baby Rhino Born in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

The population of rhinos in Uganda was decimated during the turbulent political times that the Country went through. However there has been an effort by conservationists to reintroduce rhinos back into the Country.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary located in the District of Nakasongola which has been in the spotlight during the probe into the Protected Areas Management for Sustainable Use – PAMSU a project under Uganda Wildlife Authority.

This bad publicity has however been countered with the birth of a baby rhino at the Sanctuary which sees the number of total rhinos in the Country go up to 13 in total.

During the turbulent political times of Idi Amin, rhinos were poached to extinction in the Country. People hunted the rhinos for their horns which were on high demand as a source of materials for artifacts as well as medical portions by traditional herbalists.

The birth of this female rhino now brings the population of the rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to 11 and in addition to the two rhinos at Uganda Wildlife Education Center this makes the population of the rhinos 13 in total in Country that once had an astonishing number of rhinos. It is also the only female to born in Uganda for over 30 years.

The rhino sanctuary according to the executive director of Rhino Fund Uganda, Angie Genade has only three females excluding the newly born female. Rhinos have a gestation period of 16 months and if there’s any mishap in their reproduction their population growth would be greatly hampered. There’s need to have then reproduce quickly so as to reintroduce them in to the national parks in which their population was whipped out in 1982/83.

The population of rhinos has been reduced drastically across Africa due to poaching for their horns. It is a believed by many especially in Asia that their horns act as an aphrodisiac.

The last rhino to be born in Uganda was in January 2^nd last year and it was named Justice. Baby Justice was born to Kori a different mother to that of the new female baby rhino.

The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has become a feature most of Uganda safari packages especially for tourists enroute to Murchison falls national park. A Murchison falls safari will soon include rhinos if the population of the rhinos in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary increases and they are reintroduced to the park.

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