Kenya boasted of a staggering 20,000 black rhinos in the 1960s just before independence was granted. Sadly by 1980, there were only 300 rhinos left in the entire country thanks to poaching.
They are now endangered species protected day and night from poachers. It estimated that there are more than 600 rhinos in the country. Rhinos are a part of Kenya’s heritage adding to the scenic beauty of wildlife in the country.
Rhinos are poached for their horns believed to contain a medicinal and aesthetic value. A thriving market for wildlife trophies in Asia existed for years now.
For this reason, rhinos are highly guarded but remain a sight to behold in a Kenyan safari. Here are places to find rhinos in Kenya while on a tour to Kenya’s wild.
A rhino. [Photo: Mbarack Salim]
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Table of Contents
Rhino Reserve in Solio
This Rhino Reserve is situated on the slopes of the Aberdare ranges and Mt Kenya. It is a top rhino-seeing park with about 250 white and black rhinos over the years.
Solio Ranch is recognised as one of the most successful private rhino breeding reserves in Kenya. The animals live in harmony with other wildlife, including the buffalo, zebra, giraffe and plains game. There are many travel operators offering tours to the Solio Ranch.
The main attraction is the rhino, but there are other wild animals at the reserve that can also be found on the ranch.
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Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Laikipia
Have you ever thought how exhilarating it is hand-feeding a black rhino, the world’s second-largest land mammal? At Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Laikipia, you get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with rhinos. The conservancy is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa with about 100 rhinos.
Ol Pejeta is Kenya’s only conservancy that houses the only two remaining northern white rhinos in the world. Najin and Fatu were brought back from the Czech Republic years ago.
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Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru National Park is a haven for wildlife with abounding rhinos in the prowl on the banks of the lake. Black and white rhinos are found on the southern part of Lake Nakuru punctuated by towering euphorbia tree and spiralling hills. Black rhinos concentration in the park is the highest in the country.
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Lewa Wildlife Conservancy In Laikipia
Lewa Conservancy in Laikipia first received 15 orphaned rhinos in 1983 at the height of poaching. There are rhinos today at the vast sanctuary spread to the neighbouring Borana Conservancy.
Another half of Kenya’s rhinoceros population is in Laikipia where private sanctuaries offer 24-hour security on the animals. Lewa alone accounts for 14% of the total number of rhinos in the country.
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Borana Conservancy
There are 106 black rhinos situated in Borana Conservancy tucked in Northern Kenya. In 2013, 21 rhinos were ferried from Lake Nakuru and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to Borana where they have multiplied over the years. Further, Borana boasts of having 98 white rhinos.
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Meru National Park
Meru National Park has a dedicated rhino sanctuary with 60 rhinos – 20 black and 40 white rhinos. There is a drive-in rhino sanctuary covered by thick vegetation.
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Maasai Mara
Maasai Mara is the epitome of wildlife in the country. An estimated 50 black rhinos across the vast savannah grassland. On the southern part of Maasai Mara in Sala, there is a dedicated rhino sanctuary along the Sand River.
