Wild life is one of the reasons Kenya is considered as one of the most beautiful countries in Africa.This great privilege however is tampered by heartless criminals who can’t stay away from poaching an activity that is destroying some of our greatest heritage.
In unfortunate reports,three endangered black rhinos were today announced dead in the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Narok County Commissioner George Natembeya said the rhinos two adults and a calf were killed by suspected poachers.
KENYA WILDLIFE Service opens investigation into mysterious deaths of three endangered black rhinos in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. pic.twitter.com/uwtD11sG1H
— NationBreakingNews (@NationBreaking) November 21, 2018
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has since launched investigations into the mysterious deaths of the rhinos.
However, sources reported that the rhinos, said to belong to the same crash, may have consumed a poisonous plant or succumbed to natural causes.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve reportedly used to house 49 black rhinos.
Back in July the endangered black rhinos were reported dead amidst transportation.
The animals were among 14 black rhinos being transported from Nairobi National Park to the country’s biggest national park, Tsavo East.
They died after drinking water with high concentrations of salt, the Kenyan government said.
Estimates suggest there are fewer than 5,500 black rhinos in the world, all of them in Africa and some 750 in Kenya.
Kenya Wildlife Service vets believed in the transported Rhino’s death case, the more the animals drank, the thirstier they became, which quickly lead to salt poisoning, although an independent investigation has been launched to confirm the cause of death.
Black rhinos are the smaller of the two African rhino species. The most notable difference between white and black rhinos are their hooked upper lip.
This distinguishes them from the white rhino, which has a square lip. Black rhinos are browsers rather than grazers, and their pointed lip helps them feed on leaves from bushes and trees.
They have two horns, and occasionally a third, small posterior horn.
The black rhino is still considered critically endangered, and a lot of work remains to bring the numbers up to even a fraction of what it once was and also to ensure that it stays there. Wildlife crime in the case of poaching and black-market trafficking of rhino horn continues to plague the species and threaten its recovery.
Do you believe the death of the black rhinos is due to natural cause or as a result of poachers?