By Titus Kakembo
They are visually peaceful, grey in colour, amorphous, graceful in movement and quiet.
But take care while stalking the 33 rhinos in Uganda because they can be lethal in the time it takes you to bat an eyelid.
“Those short legs can carry their amorphous weight and they can sprint at a speed of 48km/hr. In size, the rhino is second to elephants,” says Patrick Opit, a Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) ranger at Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch in Nakasongola district.
Fortunately, nature lovers have reason to smile from ear to ear as Uganda joins the rest of the world in celebrating World Rhino Day, September 22, 2022.
“From the herds that used to roam Murchison Falls National Park, we had our last beast shot dead in 1986,” laments Opit. “The good news is that after the translocation of these ones here in 2005, there has since been a baby boom.”
Another ranger, Nelson Baluku, says Ugandans are now a common occurrence at the ranch. Some Ugandans who belong to the rhino clan love to take selfies with them.
“We caution them to keep a distance because the animals might mistake their movements for an attack and react in defence,” cautions Baluku. “This might imply crushing your rib cage beyond repair.”
The ranch is 139km from Kampala City. It is off the Gulu/Kampala highway.
The other rhino couple at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) has declined to keep their gene multiplying.
“It takes an element of competition among the males to get possessive and sexually active among rhinos,” reveals the UWEC executive director, James Musinguzi.
“Other than that, the presence of lions and cheetahs among the mammals here is considered unsafe for cubs,” asserts Musinguzi. “Their counterparts in Ziwa are reproducing like rabbits. They have a different environment.”
Rhinos are illegally hunted for their horns which fetch the same price as gold in weight.
A group of rhinos is called either a “crash” or a “herd.” Rhinos spend most of their time grazing lazily. Their diet includes leaves, grass, shoots, tubers and shrubs.
