Life with Dylan

Category: World Rhino Day

  • Happy World Rhino Day!

    Touch a rhino. Look into a rhinos eyes. Talk to a rhino and have them respond to you.

    Do this and I promise you will fight for them too.

    Today is the 3rd Annual World Rhino Day – create some awareness and remember – Rhino horn is NOT medicine, it’s keratin just like your fingernails.

    Some rhino population stats for you:

    • Javan rhino – fewer than 50
    • Vietnamese Javan rhino (extinct 2010)
    • Sumatran rhino – fewer than 200
    • Borneo rhino – perhaps 30
    • Greater one-horned rhino – 2,949
    • Black rhino – 4,860
    • Southern White rhino – 20,600
    • Northern White rhino – 7 (these will be extinct within the next 20 years)
    For more inforamtion on what is being done to stop the killing of rhinos visit SavingRhinos.org and YaoMingBlog.com 

    *Statistics taken from SavingRhinos.org

  • Endangered Species Monday: Black Rhinoceros

    Sticking with the theme of rhinos this month, today’s featured endangered species is the Black Rhinoceros. As one of the five remaining rhino species, the black rhino is one of three classified as critically endangered by the IUCN.

    According to the International Rhino Foundation, the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) has suffered from the most drastic decline in total numbers of all rhino species. The poaching epidemic ran rampant from 1970 to 1992 and the species decreased by 96% – from 65,000 down to 2,300 in the wild – that is a huge amount of rhinos killed.

    Illegal hunting and poaching of the black rhino for its horn have devastated the population over the last three decades. Its range has been reduced to scattered pockets in remote areas and reserves that are patrolled. In areas where poaching is common and not easily controlled, game wardens with the help of organizations like WWF will tranquilize the animals before moving them to sanctuaries. Dehorning the rhinos in some regions has helped to protect them from poachers, but there are mixed feelings about this form of conservation.




    Did you know?

    • The black rhino can’t see objects in detail beyond a range of about 100 feet.
    • The rhino’s horn is used in Asia as a medicinal ingredient and ounce for ounce costs more than gold.
    • The black rhinos prehensile upper lip helps it to grasp and eat vegetation
    • Black rhinos live 30-35 years in the wild, but 45 years or more in captivity. 
    • In 2011 the Western Black Rhino subspecies was declared extinct. 
    • The Black Rhino has two horns made of compressed keratin – basically hair and fingernail material. (Not medicine)

    To date there are approximately 4,800 black rhinos left in the world. Thanks to conservation efforts the species is slowly coming back from the brink of extinction, but the black rhino is not out of the woods yet. Stand up for rhinos on September 22 – World Rhino Day – and spread the word that rhino horn is not medicine.

    Find out what you can do to help save the black rhino by visiting these websites.

    WWF
    International Rhino Foundation
    Saving Rhinos

  • Endangered Species Monday – Northern White Rhino

    For some September means back-to-school and the hopes of a new fall wardrobe. For me, September means something a little different. It means a month filled with creating awareness and celebrating the beautiful rhino on World Rhino Day, September 22.

    This year marks the Third Annual World Rhino Day. In 2010 the WWF-South Africa announced World Rhino Day and the following year it became an international success with the joint effort of Lisa Jane Campbell of Chishawke Ranch in Zimbabwe and Rhishja Cota-Larson of Saving Rhinos is the United States. Encompassing both African and Asian rhino species, World Rhino Day both celebrates the beautiful rhino and educates people about the myths of rhino horn. Rhino horn is not medicine.

    Each Monday I will  be featuring a different endangered species and what better way to start this new weekly post series than with the rhino. Sadly, the Northern White Rhino is all but gone.

    Nola resting at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park – May 2012

    With only seven left in the world, two (Nola and Angilfu) at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, one (Nabire) at the Dvůr Králové Zoo, and four (Sudan, Suni, Najin, and Fatu) living at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya where they are protected from poachers, this subspecies is tragically coming to an end.

    Javan Rhino – Sumatran Rhino – Greater One-Horned Rhino – Black Rhino – White Rhino
    5 Rhino Species Forever


    For more information about World Rhino Day events in your area visit WorldRhinoDay.org and to get the latest news, information, and educational content about rhinos visit SavingRhinos.org

    Photo credit: World Rhino Day poster image is courtesy of Saving Rhinos LLC