Kenya marks rhinos in conservation drive

Rhinos are tracked from a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) helicopter during the launch of a rhino ear notching exercise and the inauguration of the extended Rhino Sanctuary at Meru National Park, Kenya, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

MERU, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenya started marking rhinos on Thursday and aims to tag and identify 22 of them in two weeks at a cost of $600,000, senior government officials said on Thursday, as part of conserving their dwindling numbers.

The project comes just weeks after the world's last male northern white rhino died in Kenya, leaving only two females of its kind alive in the world. Scientists still hope to save the subspecies from extinction using in vitro fertilisation.