Henderson, D., 1972. Obongi, the white rhino who fell in love with mankind. Animals 14 (7): 302-303, figs. 1-2
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| Location: |
Africa - Eastern Africa - Uganda |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
White Rhino |
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Obongi, tame white rhino. Obongi's first contacts with man were stormy, her hitherto young and peaceful life being destroyed by a succession of nerve-shattering events. One minute she was resting in the shade of a thorn bush, the next she was being chased by the catching team in battered, stripped down, andincredibly noisy vehicles. She was lassoed (a technique preferred at the time to the still not completely researched immobilising drugs); hauled aboard a follow-up truck; deposited in a log stockade along with half-a-dozen equally bewildered white rhinos; then, when the first shocks had worn off, loaded up again, this time from an earth ramp; driven and bounced over 150 miles; ferried across the Nile; and ultimately, after a short period in another stockade, released into the Murchison, Uganda's first national park.
This experiment was absolutely vital for the survival of the white rhino, and was carried out as humanely and with as much sympathy as possible. But it killed Obongi's mother, leaving Obongi wandering alone in the bush. So for the second time in three weeks, the 6-month-old calf found herself being pursued and captured - left on her own, even had she been able to feed herself, predators would quickly have had her.
So that is how Obongi (her name comes from the area in the West Nile where she was first captured) came into the care of the park staff in general, and of park warden Roger Wheater in particular. Wheater, now the Director of Uganda's national parks, is a man with a deep understanding and knowledge of animals.
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Obongi, the white rhino who fell in love with mankind
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