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The Big Five

Where to see rhinos in Kenya

We list a place here only when one of our checked sources says rhinos live there — the sentence and its source are shown under each place. Wild animals move freely, so no park can promise a sighting on a given day.

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A female black rhino looking at the camera in long grass in Nairobi National Park

Rhino profile

Each line is checked against the source shown. Metric figures are converted from the source's own units, which are given too.

Species

Kenya has two rhino species: the black rhino (Diceros bicornis), a herbivore, and the white rhino.

Information status: Verified
Size

A black rhino weighs about 800–1,400 kg (the source gives 1,760–3,080 lb) and stands about 1.4–1.8 m (4.5–6 ft) at the shoulder.

Information status: Verified
What to look for

Black rhinos are browsers with a hooked upper lip for leaves of trees and bushes; white rhinos have a square upper lip.

Information status: Verified
Behaviour

Apart from mothers with their young, black rhinos are solitary. They have sharp hearing and a keen sense of smell.

Information status: Verified
Status

The black rhino is Critically Endangered; the southern white rhino is Near Threatened, the only one of the five rhino species that is not endangered.

Information status: Verified
In Kenya

In January 2024 Kenya passed 1,000 black rhinos — the third-largest population, after South Africa and Namibia — and had about 971 white rhinos at the end of 2023.

Information status: Verified
In Kenya

The last two northern white rhinos, both female, live at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya under round-the-clock guard (as of WWF's March 2018 count).

Information status: Verified

7 places with rhinos on record

Also on record at these places

Other wildlife our checked sources record at the same parks and reserves as rhinos — handy if you want to see more on the same trip. Open one to see the sentence and its source.