The Government of Kenya would support community driven wildlife conservations in order to increase the numbers of endangered species, with priority being rhinos.
During World’s Rhino Day national celebration at Elsa Ground on September 22, 2025, in Isiolo the Principal Secretary for State Department of Wildlife Sylvia Museiya said communities who have wildlife conservation in their areas were among those reaping big from tourism.
Museiya noted that communities living around Maasai Mara national reserve, and had their own conservancies earn an average of Sh 45,000 per household in a month.
In Kenya which has two species–black and white rhinos, the day is reserved to fete all five remaining species in the world, namely; the Black, White, Greater one-horned, Sumatran, and Javan rhinos.
The Theme for this year’s event was dubbed; ‘Standing Together for Rhino Conservation’.
The PS, who represented CS Rebecca Miano noted that in the northern tourism circuit that had nearly all the rhino population in the country in early 1970s before the numbers nose-dived due to massive poaching, today has about 1,500 in three Counties of Laikipia, Meru and Samburu.
Isiolo, which had the highest number of the now endangered species in early 1970s, today has zero.
Of notable concern however, is that most of the animals are found in electric fenced private wildlife conservancies like Ol Pejeta in Laikipia while in Meru they are found in the KWS managed Meru national park.
However, according to the PS there is hope of the rhinos going back to their natural habitats and that’s through community based wildlife conservancies.
Samburu County had taken the lead by establishing the first such sanctuaries in East Africa when Sera was set up in 2015.
Sera, in partnership with Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) benefited from relocation of rhinos from the Lewa Downs Wildlife Conservancy and today has tourist lodges and game reserve where visitors watch on-foot rhino tracking.
“Laikipia has 28 conservancies and if you visit Illigwesi, the tourists who come there pay a lot of money just to watch the rhinos. The communities there benefit immensely from revenue generated from tourism,” she observed.
The State, which the PS said had been impressed with the successes in counties like Laikipia and Samburu, would support efforts of others who want to chart that path.
To protect the rare animals, Kenya was among the first to be signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Other protocols include the Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora (LA) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
To dominate the international conventions, it came up with the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013 that provides among others a strong legal foundation for rhino conservation, and sets out stringent enforcement measures against wildlife crime.
“To further strengthen conservation, Kenya is reviewing the Wildlife Act, now the Wildlife Bill 2025 which seeks to address emerging issues in wildlife conservation and aligns with the Wildlife Policy, 2020 and at the same time harmonising Kenya’s obligations under CITES and CMS Conventions and Lusaka Agreement,” Miano said.
Among efforts to take the conservation of the endangered species to the grassroots, the State had envisioned the Black Rhino Recovery and Action Plan that would expand the rhino range to areas where they were in the 1970s.
“We will continue sustaining and strengthening anti-poaching efforts, maintaining intensive and accurate rhino monitoring systems (ear notching, microchipping, DNA profiling), and mobilizing sustainable financing mechanisms to support rhino conservation in the long term by partnering with local communities,” said the CS.
According to the 2021 National Wildlife Census report, the country hosts 1,605 rhinos, the third in Africa behind South Africa and Namibia.
There are 853 black rhinos, 750 southern white rhinos and only two female northern white rhinos.
