In a statement released on Tuesday, November 18, the service revealed that the exercise will take 15 days and will be the largest of its kind in Kenya’s conservation history.
The black rhinos will be fitted with Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) eartags and Very High Frequency (VHF) transmitters to enhance monitoring, security, and data accuracy.
“Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), in collaboration with partners under the Kenya Rhino Range Expansion (KRRE) initiative, has launched a 15-day rhino ear-notching and tagging operation at Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, Tsavo West National Park,” KWS relayed.
A black rhino photographed with its calf at the Tsavo East National Park on October 14, 2025.
“This is the largest single exercise of its kind in Kenya’s conservation history.”
The exercise is being led by Dr Isaac Lekolool, the Senior Assistant Director, and it highlights KWS’s growing technical and logistical capacity in large-scale wildlife operations and its commitment to science-based conservation.
It is part of the service’s plan for successful species recovery through sustainable conservation measures.
“Through this initiative, KWS stamps its leadership in species recovery and sustainable management of natural resources, strengthening Kenya’s ecological resilience and community livelihoods,” KWS noted.
In a video shared by KWS, a rhino was seen getting tagged and marked with paint on its back to avoid tagging it twice and increase visibility.
The exercise kicks off just days after a black rhino calf was born at the neighbouring Chyulu Hills National Park, a rare sighting that signalled slow but steady restoration of the endangered species.
The news was confirmed by the Big Life Foundation, which discovered the newborn through trail cameras in the park, months after the mother had faded out of the cameras and gone into hiding to nest.
Its birth brought the population of the Eastern black rhinos up to nine in the national park, which once hosted the densest population of black rhinos in East Africa, a testament to the long-term effects of poaching.
By James Kisoo
