By Weng Xudong, Reuters.
Kenya started rhino marking project on Thursday and plans to spend $600,000 and two weeks in identifying 22 rhinos, Reuters news agency reports.
The marking which is being done by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Ministry of Tourism in Meru National Park kicked off on Thursday and ear notches are used as the main tool for tagging and identifying the rhinos.
“Ear notches are permanent markings and you can use them for the life of the animal,” Francis Gakuya, head of veterinary services at KWS said.
Horns trade and rampant poaching has contributed to the significant dwindling number of rhinos in recent decades.
In 1970s, Kenya had 20,000 rhinos but the number dropped to 400 in 1990. The number now is at 650, almost all of them black rhinos.
Senior government officials said the marking project is part of efforts to conserve the endangered rhinos just few weeks after the world’s last male northern white rhino died leaving only two female of its kind.
