Drought causing increased rhino fights in Kenya park

A Kenyan wildlife conservancy says it has been observing increased fights between members of rhino species that are "known to be very social".

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia county says its patrol team witnessed two weeks ago an intense fight between two southern white rhinos that left an 11-year old bull with “multiple lacerations and penetrative wounds from the other bull's horn”.

It attributes the fights to declining pasture and water in the region affecting grazing animals.

“The team determined the cause of the fight to be the diminished pasture, due to the drought, he had travelled a long distance in search of food leading him to another bull's home,” the conservancy says.

“More and more, we are observing fights among this species that are otherwise known to be very social," said Samuel Mutisya, Ol Pejeta’s head of conservation.

The conservancy has shared a picture of the injured rhino named Jayjay, which it says is now doing better after treatment.

Rhinoceroses - of which there are five species - are the second-largest land mammal after elephants, and are extremely threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

The white rhinoceros consists of two sub-species: the southern white rhino and the much rarer and critically endangered northern white rhino.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Twitter