really cool place that we were able to visit. The Rhinos were sooooo coooool! We were able to get about 30 feet from them and watch them eat and basically do their normal thing.
The reason that Ziwa even exists is because a long time ago thousands of rhinos roamed freely in Uganda. But because of hunting, poaching, and increase in human activity the numbers decreased until few rhinos were left. Then in the 1970's rhinos were poached to extinction and the last rhino was seen in Uganda in 1983.
The reason they were hunted was because of the value their horns fetch on the worlds black market. They were sold for dagger handles and medicines all over the world. The Rhino Fund Uganda (RFU) was established in 1997 and in 2004 they completed the rhino sanctuary. They received four rhinos from Kenya and two from Disney Animal Kingdom in Orlando Florida in 2006. The plan is that once 30+ rhinos are in the sanctuary they will then release a starter group into the wild.
I think its a pretty sweet idea and I hope that it works. It is sad to see how so many things in this world get taken for granted.
Its not just the rhinos that are at Ziwa. They also have some small animals that have been rescued. This is one of the tiny deer that walks around the living quarters. You can even pet them and just chill. Its nice to be in a place where animals and people are just walking around together getting along. I half expected Tarzan to walk around the corner or see two people walking around with nothing but leaves covering their unmentionables.
I digress, the trip to Ziwa was a lot of fun and I really did enjoy seeing all of the diffrent things and just getting away for a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment