Safeguarding Ol Pejeta's Rhino Populations

It has been almost four months since we launched our Emergency Appeal on March 23^rd. We have managed to raise over $100,000 thanks to you incredible generosity. We have received 1,478 donations from 943 donors, which is simply amazing! 178 of you decided to become monthly donors - a fantastic way to suport us during this ongoing pandemic. 

Unfortunately the financial situation on Ol Pejeta is not getting any better. We now anticipate the overall tourism revenues for the year to decrease by over US$ 4m. But our work on the ground continues and, thanks in part to you, we keep fulfilling our mission to protect endangered species and supporting our local communities. Here are some of the things that we have accomplished in the last four months:

• We are the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa. Our black rhino population now stands at 135. Since January, we have welcomed five new healthy black rhino babies.
• Our northern white rhinos went live with NatGeo and Filipe DeAndrade in their “around the world” Instagram live!
• We have been nominated by the World Travel Awards for Africa's Leading Conservation Company 2020 and Africa's Leading Private Game Reserve 2020.
• We have closed off our chimpanzee sanctuary to all visitors. Even though it has not been established that COVID-19 can affect chimpanzees, they are very closely related to humans and this means any diseases we carry could also affect them.
• We have successfully integrated young chimpanzee Jobo with the rest of the group. After Jobo lost his mother to pneumonia a few months ago, he struggled to find his footing. Thankfully, after a long, gentle process, Jobo is now fully integrated back into the group. Cheetah, Sultana, Saidia and Julia took a liking to him and have finally embraced him.
• We have donated ‘lion lights’ to community livestock owners, to help minimise lion/ human conflict and loss of income to pastoralists. They have been such a success that the group organised a fundraiser to create another 25 kits. 
• We continue to use innovative tech to support rhino conservation, explore cost-effective solutions to wildlife monitoring, and even save water. Find out how.
• 66 households in Tutuu village in Laikipia North received food hampers from the residents of the Mount Kenya Wildlife Estate (MKWE) on Ol Pejeta to support emergency food security during the current coronavirus crisis, which is hitting many rural communities hard. // find out more 
• We launched Sofa Safaris on our Social Media channels. Since we know you can’t visit us right now, we decided to bring the wild to you. Everyday our team goes out into the Ol Pejeta wilderness and shares it with you.  
• Our dedicated rhino caregiver, James Mwenda, was the first to be featured on actor and activist, Rhona Mitra's podcast, The Little Ark. They talked about everything conservation, what inspires James to be the passionate ambassador for wildlife that he is, and how people can help ensure wild animals and their speces remain safe. Click link to find out more.
• We continue to work on Urban Ranch to provide a platform for the talented artisans living in our neighbouring villages. We currently support ten leatherworkers who create beautiful sandals, bags and belts from Ol Pejeta leather, and we’re hoping to expand this to support sculptors, tailors, beadworkers and other artisans in the near future.
• We had a southern white rhino in North Carolina Zoo named after our rhino caregiver Joseph ‘Jojo’ Wachira.

We want to thank you again for your friendship and your support of our Emergency Appeal. We still have a very long way to go to get through this crisis, but with you on our side, we feel stronger and more confident.

If you have not yet, please share this campaign with your friends and family and ask them to support Ol Pejeta Conservancy and of course, we hope that as soon as it is easier to travel that you can come visit us on the Conservancy.