14 DAY TRIAL // Presently, Kenya is home to some 850 black and white rhinos. Seeing how, only last year, about 50 such animals were butchered by poachers, conservationists now say that it might not be such a bad idea if Kenya's remaining rhino population were to do a little re-enactment of Jodie Foster's “The Panic Room.”
Long story short, folks working with and supporting conservation group Rhino Ark maintain that, instead of being allowed to run free, the 850 rhinos that currently inhabit Kenya should be put behind fences.
More precisely, they should be tracked down and herded into sanctuaries, The Guardian reports.
The conservationists say that, all things considered, bringing Kenya's rhinos into sanctuaries is probably the best way to keep them safe from poachers, and ensure that slaughters such as the ones documented back in 2013 become less common, maybe even cease taking place altogether.
“The gangs [of poachers] are extremely well organized and people from inside the Kenya Wildlife Service have been found to be colluding [with them],” explains the current Director of Rhino Ark, Christian Lambrechts.
Furthermore, “There is a growing realisation that private land holders do not have the ability to safeguard all of them. Rhinos cannot remain in the wild. They must be brought into sanctuaries.”
Christian Lambrechts goes on to detail that, the way he and his colleagues see things, some 100 rhinos can be relocated to Kenya's Aberdare Mountains.
This region is protected by a 250-mile (roughly 402 kilometers) electrified fence that is the result of a collaboration between the organization and local communities.
Kenya's government is now working with Rhino Ark to build similar fences around Mount Kenya and Mount Eburu. Once completed, these fences could help protect more rhinos.
The conservationists explain that, because local communities are actively involved in the construction of these fences, the initiative is very likely to succeed.
As Christian Lambrechts puts it, “The difference between this approach and the old model of ‘fortress conservation’, is that everything is now done for the community. In the old days it was against people. Now it's with people. The fences are built by them, maintained by them. People respect them. If people did not want a fence, they would just tear it down.”
Although odds are that some poachers will occasionally manage to kill rhinos in these protected areas, the fact remains that slaughters will take place less often than they currently do, Rhino Ark maintains.