Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Encyclopedia
Location
The sanctuary is located approximately 176 kilometres (109.4 mi), by road, north of KampalaKampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
, Uganda's capital and largest city. This location is in Nakasongola District
Nakasongola District
Nakasongola District is a district in Central Uganda. The district is named after its 'chief town' of Nakasongola.-Location:Nakasongola District is bordered by Apac District to the northwest, Amolatar District to the northeast, Kayunga District to the east, Luweero District to the south, Nakaseke...
, in the Kafu River Basin, off the Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
-Gulu
Gulu
Gulu is a city in Northern Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The city is located at 2˚46'48N 32˚18'00E, on the metre gauge railway from Tororo to Pakwach. Gulu is located approximately , by road, north of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city...
Highway. The approximate coordinates of the sanctuary are:01 30 00N, 32 06 00E; (Latitude:1.5000; Longitude:32.1000). The coordinates are approximate because the sanctuary does not show up on most publicly available maps, as of January 2010.
Overview
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is a collaborative effort between the Uganda Wildlife AuthorityUganda Wildlife Authority
The Ugandan Wildlife Authority is one of the governing bodies that regulates wildlife conservation in Uganda.It was established in August 1996 by the Uganda Wildlife Statute, which merged the Uganda National Parks and the Game Department...
, the Uganda Rhino Fund, a Ugandan NGO committed to the restoration of Uganda's rhinoceros population and Ziwa Ranchers Limited, a private land management company. The sanctuary offers a secure place where rhino populations can be expanded by breeding, protected from human and non-human predators and gradually re-introduced in Uganda's national parks, while at the same time, allowing the public to enjoy these majestic animals, as the project moves forward.
The available facilities at the sanctuary include a guest house, a restaurant, camp grounds and tour guides. A team of approximately fifty (50) park rangers and security guards keep a 24 hour watch on the rhinos, to ensure their safety. The 70 square kilometres (7,000 ha) sanctuary is surrounded by a 2 metres (6.6 ft) electric fence to keep the rhinos in and the intruders out.
Besides the rhinos, the sanctuary is also home to at least twenty (20) other animal and reptilian species including monkeys, antelopes, hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
, crocodiles and numerous bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
species.
History
Both the Black RhinocerosBlack Rhinoceros
The Black Rhinoceros or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros , is a species of rhinoceros, native to the eastern and central areas of Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola...
(Diceros bicornis) and the White Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros
The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species...
(Ceratotherium simum), are endemic to Uganda. However due to a number of factors, including prolonged armed human conflict, poaching and the mismanagement of their natural habitat, by 1982, both species had been wiped out in the country. Ziwa Rhino sanctuary was established in 2005 to reintroduce rhinoceros to Uganda. The long term goal of the sanctuary is to "build a sustainable rhinoceros population and relocate rhinos back to their original habitat in Uganda's protected areas". As of January 2010, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is the only location in Uganda, where rhinos can be observed in their natural habitat. Starting with a total of six donated animals, two from Solio Ranch
Solio Ranch
Solio Ranch or Solio Game Reserve is a privately owned wildlife conservancy located in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.The ranch is a fenced, privately-owned protected area geared toward rhino conservation. The 17,500-acre reserve, 22 km north of Nyeri Town, plays a major part in the protection...
in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and two from Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom is an animal theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than . It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the rhino population had grown to nine, as of January 2010.