SIFAKA BLOG

Did you know that we have black rhinos here at the Cheetah Conservation Fund? The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), also called “hook-lipped” rhinoceros, is an extremely endangered animal. To help the government of Namibia with the conservation of the black rhinoceros, CCF has set up a reserve for a few of these animals.

Although our reserve is home to six black rhinos, there is a young female that keeps escaping! A little while ago, the Namibian government sent their best veterinarians here to catch our escaped rhino. They found her, caught her, and then they returned her to the reserve. She didn’t stay there very long though, because only a few days later she had escaped again!

We think that this young female has set up what is called a “home range” just outside of our reserve. A home range is where an animal spends its time, or the area that an individual animal chooses to live. You can understand home ranges by thinking about the places you often go. Your home range would not include the place that you once visited for holiday, but the common places that you visit like your home, your school, maybe the store, or even your best-friend’s house. For now we are just tracking the young female rhinoceros to make sure that she is staying in the same area. Maybe she just thought that the grass was greener on the other side – the other side of our reserve’s fence that is!