Reports, accounts and open evidence

Rhino Ark Charitable Trust is a Kenyan trust (Trustee Act Cap 167) and registered NGO (NGO Coordination Act, 1990) focused on mountain forests, water catchments and the species that depend on them.

Main offices are at the Kenya Wildlife Service Headquarters Complex on Langata Road in Nairobi. There is a field office for the Aberdare / Mount Kenya ecosystems in Nyeri, and branch offices in the UK and USA.

Ken Kuhle formed the trust in 1988 after poaching and crop raids made coexistence around the Aberdares untenable. The first fix was an electric fence with Kenya Wildlife Service on the Eastern Salient; that success scaled into today’s multi-landscape programmes.

Vision and mission statements are published on the About page and in annual reports. In short: restore balance between people, forests and wildlife, and deliver high-impact conservation that neighbours can feel in daily life.

Where farms touch forest, a well-placed electrified fence gives wildlife room inside and farmers predictability outside. Independent placement studies on the Aberdares showed conflict can fall sharply without abandoning core habitat.

Rhino Ark fences stand seven feet above ground and descend three feet below it. Lower sections use tight-lock mesh to deter burrowing wildlife. Above ground, upright posts are hot-wired to prevent climbing animals. Animal grids are sited where fences traverse roads.

No. It is a psychological barrier. Energizers send well-controlled strong but short-lived pulses that do not cause bodily harm, but are sufficiently unpleasant to act as an effective deterrent.

Rhino Ark directly supports the community-based Bongo Surveillance Programme (BSP) through funding and logistical support of BSP team activities.

The Aberdare fence has cost approximately KSh 800 million (about US$ 8-10 million historically reported) to construct. Maintenance continues through forest-adjacent fence attendants and partner technical committees.

About 450 km will ring more than 2,700 sq km; 316 km are complete. Forest-adjacent community members build under KWS technical supervision.

Eburu’s 43 km electrified fence (2014) wraps an 8,715 ha block with managed corridor openings toward Lake Naivasha. Work continues on conflict reduction, CFA engagement and bongo monitoring with the Wilder Institute / Calgary Zoo.