In the West Nile District of Uganda lives a population of white rhino—those relies of a past age, cumbrous, gentle creatures despite their huge bulk—which estimates only 10 years ago, put at 500.
But poachers live in the area, too, and official counts showed that white rhino were being reduced alarmingly. By 1959, they were believed to be diminished to 300.
The northern subspecies of white rhinoCeratotherium simum cottoniis very close to extinction. Probably fewer than 50 remain in the wild and only 13 are known in captivity. Garamba National Park in northern Zaire contains the only potentially viable group, of 15–20 individuals, and here there is a possibility of action to save them.