The little known bond between rhinos and rangers in Lake Nakuru national park

For most people outside Nakuru, the mention of Lake Nakuru National Park conjures a picture of pink flamingos, beautifully lining up on the vast Lake.

As for the locals, it's synonymous to the annoying baboons or a beautiful blue view, depending ofcourse on which side of town you come from.

But away from all these, the Park hosts one of the big five; rhinos.  In fact, it is a designated Rhino sanctuary.

These majestic beasts strut around the Park, all 200 of them, offering a memorable spectacle for the tourists who visit.

While they may seem very aloof and their ways unknown, with the park rangers, they share a closeness that only one whose work is to deal with wild animals can understand.

During a tour of the Park, our tour guide Judy Sang, reveals that each rhino has an identification number that separates them from each other.

“Some of them have names and we can tell which is which from unique identifiers like the horns, size or even personality,” Judy says to the amusement of the tour bus.

She further explains that every morning a register is taken to ensure each animal is present.

“The ranger then records the behaviour of the animal and what they were doing at the time it was sighted. This could be things like eating, sleeping,mating or even giving birth,” Judy adds.

In case there is a birth, the children are noted down as well.

Interestingly, Judy says some of the children have been named after the ranger who first saw it and thus created a special bond with them.

“For example we have one rhino called Chege. He was named after a ranger named Chege, who watched it being born,” she reveals, prompting a laugh from the bus.

It is such bonds that motivate the rangers to take care of these endangered animals, from poachers and other dangers they may encounter.

Judy then gets into the social aspects of the rhinos, saying that they live in families of females and children.

The males, are solitary and only come to the family when it’s time to mate.

“Usually they walk around guarding their territory, so that another male does not come in,” Judy explains.

As we continue with the tour, one cannot help but marvel at the order in which the wild animals live with, albeit unknown to the human eye.

In 2024, Lake Nakuru National Park raked in Sh 72 million, which Snr Assistant Park Director Gideon Kebati says was a drop from the previous year.

His plea is that the community can own the park and reach a space of resolving any issues that may arise, including the fishing menace that continues to ail the community.

So, should you find yourself at the Park, ask the tour guide to show you Chege. If for nothing else, at least you’ll have a fire IG photo with an unbelievable caption to go with it.

Feel free to mention you first read about it from Mtaa Wangu. Deal?