Baraka, a black Rhino blinded by disease, is one of the four extremely endangered Northern White Rhinoceros that were shipped to Kenya from the Czech Republic. (AFP)

OL PEJETA RESERVE, Kenya (AFP) – Four Northern White rhinos arrived at a Kenyan reserve Sunday as part of a last-ditch bid to save the species from extinction.

The animals, two males and two females, arrived at the Ol Pejeta reserve in central Kenya after having travelled more than 7,000 kilometers from the Czech zoo that donated them – a 24-hour journey.

The first animal, a 21-year-old female called Najin, emerged from her well-ventilated wooden container as her Czech handler from the Dvur Kralove zoo coaxed her along, saying "don't be frightened" over and over again in Czech.

The handler travelled from Nairobi to the reserve perched on one of the containers to maintain contact with the endangered animals.

"They were quiet during the trip and they slept most of the time," Dana Holeckova, director of the Dvur Kralove zoo told AFP at the reserve.

"I feel so happy. It's my birthday today and this is like a gift to Africa. There is a 90 percent chance they will reproduce and I hope that we will start a new group of Northern White rhinos in Africa," she said.

"We have sent you the diamonds of our zoo, the last fertile Northern White rhinos kept in captivity. They are beautiful animals, they love people, they care about people. Please care about the rhinos; don’t give them to poachers," Holeckova appealed.

By late afternoon all four animals had ventured out of their containers into their enclosure in the middle of the savannah.

The rhinos were given tranquilizers for the trip, with a higher dose for the males. They were first flown into Nairobi then transferred by lorries to the Ol Pejeta reserve.

Their horns were cut to make them less attractive to poachers and also so they could fit into their travelling containers.

Czech officials at the Dvur Kralove zoo agreed to send four of their six Northern White rhinos, even though the project generated controversy there – with opponents of the transfer arguing the animals might not survive the trip.

They feared they would have difficulty adapting to a sudden, massive change in temperature.

Only eight Northern White rhinos – whose Latin name is Ceratotherium simum cottoni, a sub-species of the White Rhino – are known to survive worldwide, all of them in captivity.

As well as the two still at Dvur Kralove, a vast facility that specializes in African fauna, two live at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, California.