Omni, a black rhino, was born on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in 2000. Because his mother was blind and could not properly care for him, Lewa gave Omni to the Il Ngwesi Group Ranch, where he was hand-reared by game guards. Omni is now fully grown, and lives in a fenced portion of Il Ngwesi with two white rhinos. For the past four years Il Ngwesi has been trying to procure a mate for Omni. A recent survey of the habitat’s sufficiency to support more rhinos has been forwarded to the Kenyan government, which controls translocations of endangered black rhinos.

Other wildlife at Il Ngwesi are doing extremely well. The population of endangered Grevy’s zebras is increasing. A recent Kenya Wildlife Service census counted 1200 elephants in Il Ngwesi and Lekurruki group ranches. The upswings are attributable to the community’s program of managed grazing.