print

Uganda imports rhinos from Kenya
MONGABAY.COM
July 26, 2005



Uganda has imported four rhinos from Kenya according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). UWA hopes to develop a captive breeding program in an effort to reintroduce rhinos after their disappearance from the country in the 1960s due to poaching.

Uganda is trying to establish itself as a destination for ecotourists. According to UWA Executive Director Moses Wafula Mapesa, "Uganda has 18,000 buffaloes, 3,000 elephants, 315 mountain gorillas, 320 giraffes and 950 chimpanzees" as quoted in a report from The Monitor in Kampala [carried on allAfrica.com].

The rhinoceros or rhino is a large-bodied ungulate native to Africa or Asia. They are characterized by snout-mounted horns made of keratin fibers. The belief in some cultures that their horns have medicinal properties or special powers have made rhinos a popular target by poachers. Today trade in rhinoceros parts is forbidden under the CITES agreements, but poaching is a severe threat to all rhinoceros species.

Two species of rhino are found in Africa: the Black Rhinoceros and the White Rhinoceros. The White Rhino is the most abundant of the two species.