Northern White Rhino Species Face Imminent Extinction, Last Remain in Africa

Five years ago the Lewa Conservancy in Kenya airlifted the remaining four breeding Northern White Rhinos from a zoo in the Czech Republic. Their goal was to have them roam in the wild to encourage them to breed and repopulate the species.

The white rhino is the largest of all rhino species, growing up to five to six feet in height, with females weighing between 1,400 - 1,700 kg and males weighing between 2,000 - 3,600 kg. Before the Northern White Rhino's endangerment, it inhabited areas of southern Chad, the Central African Republic, southwestern Sudan, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and northwestern Uganda. It's not to be confused with the Southern White Rhino, which occupies a few regions in South Africa. More information on the white rhinos can be found on the WWF site.

Despite the Lewa Conservancy's effort to repopulate the Northern White Rhino, only four of them currently remain in the wild, specifically in Garamba National Park in the DRC. Their existence was previously disrupted because of the civil war in the DRC along with the growing influence of poachers, who are people that illegally hunt the animals for their horns.

The Lewa Conservancy has teamed up with the Northern Rangelands Trust in hopes to educate indigenous communities about the value and endangerment of these rhinos. Their plan aims to notify local communities that the poaching of such species, and poaching in general, is not worth it because it depopulates species and affects potential long-term moneymaking ventures since tourists frequently travel to Africa to view the continent's exotic wildlife.

Ami Vitale is a photographer and guest contributor for National Geographic. An article of hers documenting the Northern White Rhinos can be found here, where she writes about her travels to Africa and her encounters with the endangered species. She is also working on producing a documentary about poaching in Northern Kenya.

To read more about the Northern White Rhinos and the widespread poaching issue, visit Ami's National Geographic article as well as the World Wildlife Foundation website.