‘This Rhino Is My Son’

USAID supports a sustainable future for endangered species in Kenya and the people that live alongside them

Mary out on a walk with rhino Loijipu, who had to learn what plants were good to eat. Loijipu was rescued after being abandoned at just 2 days old by his mother. / Left photo courtesy of Mary Lengees. Right photo by Melina Formisano, Conservation International.

Mary Lengees uses a hand-held radio transceiver to check on her baby. There is no cell network here in the remote valleys of northern Kenya, where Mary was raised.

“I think he’s my greatest achievement,” Mary says with a smile as she places the radio transceiver back in its holster.

Loijipu was abandoned when he was 2 days old by his mother, one of the black rhinos moved to Sera Community Conservancy — the first indigenous-owned black rhino sanctuary in East Africa — in 2015. Sera is a member of the Northern Rangelands Trust, a group of 39 community conservancies across northern Kenya.

“Rhinos used to roam wild all over this region,” Mary said, recounting stories from her grandparents. “Now they exist only within protected sanctuaries and parks.”

Kenya has lost 70 percent of its wildlife in the past 30 years, and black rhinos are just one of the species whose numbers have plummeted as a result of illegal poaching and habitat loss.

Mary Lengees with Loijipu when he first arrived at Reteti. She stayed with him day and night. / Photo courtesy of Mary Lengees

This landscape isn’t just challenging for wildlife, but also for people like Mary who live alongside them. They share the same, often scarce, water and land. Poverty rates are high, and job opportunities, particularly for women, are hard to come by.

In many ways, the story of Mary and the black rhino calf symbolizes the strength of the interdependence of prosperity for northern Kenya’s people and for its wildlife.

Nature and resilient livelihoods in northern Kenya are inextricably linked. In NRT member conservancies, poaching for ivory has dropped 96 percent since 2012, while tourism revenue, employment, and community-driven development projects increased in that time.

The reasons for Loijipu’s abandonment are unclear. He was found by community wildlife rangers. There are just under 800 employed across the community conservancies to conduct wildlife monitoring and protection patrols. After a fruitless wait nearby to see if his mother would return, the Sera rangers called in Mary’s team to rescue Loijipu before he succumbed to dehydration.

Mary works at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in the Ngilai Community Conservancy, another member of Northern Rangelands Trust. Reteti is the only community-owned elephant sanctuary in Kenya. They aim to rescue, rehabilitate, and return to the wild orphaned or abandoned elephant and rhino calves.

Mary and rhino Loijipu formed a strong bond, but Reteti’s ultimate aim is to release every orphan that comes into their care back to the wild. /Photo courtesy of Mary Lengees

Mary and Loijipu had a special bond from the moment they met. “I just took Loijipu in and accepted him as a son. He used to sleep on my lap, and would cry if we left him. So I was there, day and night, feeding and comforting him.”

For Mary’s community, wild animals can be a nuisance or a danger. But community conservation is changing this attitude by linking nature to improved livelihoods. This comes either directly, through ecotourism-related jobs, or indirectly through improved grasslands for pastoralists, sustainable water management, or conservation-related funding that supports schools, health care, and peace programs.

Mary’s job brings in valuable income for her family, in a landscape where employment opportunities are scarce. But it is also giving her a voice in her community, as she helps to raise awareness about wildlife, and the role of women in conservation.

Loijipu was released into Sera Community Conservancy — where he was rescued from — in June 2018. He was accompanied closely by keepers during the first months of his reintroduction. / Mariella Furrer

Mary delighted in watching Loijipu grow stronger and start to display characteristics of a wild rhino. He now snorts and stamps his feet if someone he doesn’t know approaches him, and knows which wild plants are good to eat. All good skills for his return to the wild, which for Mary came all too soon.

In the summer of 2018, Mary accompanied Loijipu on his journey back to Sera Conservancy, and stayed with him for two months as he got used to his new wild life. Meanwhile, Mary was pregnant with her own child.

When her daughter was born, Mary named her Naijipu, a female form of the name Loijipu, which means “to follow.”

“Caring for Loijipu was so important. I wanted him to grow healthy and return to his natural habitat, and I, with my colleagues, achieved that.

This means an additional number for the endangered black rhinos, which is a great thing.

I accepted him as a son, and now he represents our future.” — Mary

Left: Loijipu was accompanied closely by keepers during the first months of his reintroduction, but now spends most of his time without the company of humans. Right: Loijipu takes a cooling dip in the heat of the day at Sera Community Conservancy, where he was released. / Photos by Mariella Furrer

Loijipu now spends most of the time on his own in the Sera Conservancy, although he is still monitored at a distance by rangers, whom Mary radios every so often to check on his progress. Mary’s got other babies back at the Reteti sanctuary that need her help now.

About the Author

Sophie Harrison is a communications consultant with the Northern Rangelands Trust, a nonprofit organization in Kenya working with USAID to support resilient community-led conservation that transforms lives, secures peace, and conserves natural resources.