Czech zoo plans to relocate 4 rare northern white rhinos to Africa in effort to save species

4 white rhinos to move from Czech zoo to Kenya

PRAGUE — Four rare northern white rhinos will be moved from a Czech zoo to Africa to live in the wild in an attempt to save the species from being wiped out, officials said Wednesday.

Two male rhinos called Sudan and Suni and two female rhinos called Najin and Fatu will be taken from the Dvur Kralove Zoo to Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, zoo spokeswoman Jana Mysliveckova said.

They will live on the Kenyan Ol Pejeta conservation area, where zoo authorities hope that it will be easier for them to breed than in captivity.

Four other northern white rhinos were living in Congo’s Garamba National Park, but they have not been seen since August 2006. They were the last remaining northern white rhinos in the wild.

Only eight white rhinos live in captivity — six in Dvur Kralove and two in San Diego.

The Czech zoo has tradition of taking care of white rhinos dating to the mid-1970s when the first of them, two male and four female, arrived from Africa.

The 36-year old Sudan was one of them. Four white rhinos were born in the zoo since in what zoo officials call “a small miracle.”

But Fatu, born June 29, 2000, who is the daughter of Najin, 20, was the last one and despite efforts, including repeated artificial insemination, no white rhino was born here since.

“The situation (for the species) is absolutely critical,” Mysliveckova said.

Three of the four, had to have their horns shortened ahead of the plane transport to prevent a possible damage that could put the animals under stress, she said, adding the horns were expected to grow back again.

The move has not delighted everyone and the Safari Archa 2007 NGO planned a protest rally in the regional city of Hradec Kralove Wednesday.

Roman Komeda of the organization said the transport posed “a huge risk” for the rhinos, charging the plan was “incompetent” and its purpose made “no sense” because there were no other white rhinos in the Kenyan park and the white rhinos could only breed with southern white rhinos living there.

He said his organization has asked a court to stop the move.