Saturday, March 13, 2010

Japan's Crown Prince visits rhinos in Kenya

Asian Defense News: OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY, Kenya (AFP) - – Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito Friday visited endangered rhinos at a game reserve in Kenya's Rift Valley before planting a tree here with Nobel Prize laureate Wangari Maathai.

Japan's Crown Prince visits rhinos in Kenya

The prince, dressed in casual clothes and walking shoes, started the second day of his Kenya visit with an early morning game drive at the Ol Pejeta reserve, where impala, lions and warthogs abound.

He visited rhino enclosures in the park, feeding a blind Black rhino called Baraka ("blessing" in the Swahili language) and interacting with two female Northern White rhinos, Fatu and Najin, that were donated by a Czech zoo in December.

The prince took numerous photographs of the animals and at one point walked up to a small crowd of local people who had gathered to welcome him waving flags and greeted them with a few words of Swahili.

Maathai helped the prince plant a tree at Sweetwaters camp inside the conservancy, adding to the some 30 million trees that her Green Belt Movement has planted on the African continent since its creation in 1977.

His convoy, made up of a large number of Japanese vehicles, then headed to Mwea in central Kenya to visit an irrigation and agricultural development centre.

The prince, 50, arrived in Nairobi late Wednesday for a three-day trip that follows a visit to Ghana.

On Thursday he met with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who hailed Japan's "continued financial and technical support" notably in programmes to combat climate change.

The prince then visited a Japanese school in the outskirts of Nairobi.

Prince Naruhito said his country appreciated collaboration with Kenya and would continue to partner it in various areas of development.

On Saturday the prince will visit the national museum in Nairobi and meet with members of the Japanese community in Nairobi before flying out of Kenya.

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