World Rhino Day is observed on September 22 each year to spread awareness on the five species of rhinos and the ways to save them…
World Rhino Day is celebrated every year on September 22 which is an initiative by the International Rhino Foundation to celebrate Rhinos and people around the globe who care about them. This day is also celebrated to spread awareness about the five species of Rhino and the ways to save them.
The International Rhino Foundation celebrates this with a goal ‘keep the five alive’ for a better environment.
This year, we will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of World Rhino Day
World Rhino Day: History
Back in 1990s, there was a calamity related to rhinos in Africa, particularly the black Rhinos. And by 2010 the conditions of rhinos was very critical. Only 30,000 species were left in the world at that time. Finally, on 2010, WWF-South Africa announced World Rhino Day with the desire to save the world’s remaining rhinos, an effort that grew to be an unprecedented success.
In 2011, Lisa Jane along with Rhishja Cota decided to save all five species of rhinos by spreading awareness about them. And with the strong actions taken together by these wonderful womens, world rhino day has become a global success.
The five species of Rhino:
As if now there are only five species of Rhino family left in this world. Three of them are considered critically endangered; Black, Javan and Sumatran.
1) White Rhino– They are the Africa’s largest species of Rhino also known as the ‘square lipped’ rhino. They are considered as nearly threatened species with a population of 18,067.
2) Black Rhino– Also known as ‘hook lipped’ rhino are critically endangered ones with a population of 5,630.
3) Greater One Horned Rhino– Also known as ‘Rhinoceros unicornis’ are the Asia’s largest species of Rhino which are almost vulnerable with a population of less that 3,600 alive.
4) Sumatran Rhino– Also known as ‘Dicerorhinus sumatrensis’ are critically endangered species with a population of less than 100 in this planet.
5) Javan Rhino– Also known as ‘Rhinoceros sondaicus’ are the most critically endangered species of rhino family with a population of just 72.
All the Javan Rhinos are being kept in Ujong Kulon National Park.
Rhino family: Reasons to be in an endangered state
This was not the case always on this planet. During 20th century, over 50,000 of the large mammals could be seen roaming around Asia and Africa. But few years after that the terrible rise in hunting and poaching for Rhino Horns, all around the world, resulted in destroying the rhino family.
Rhino horns were poached and sold in black markets of China. This was due to a misconception that said the keratin in rhino horn has medicinal properties that can cure a variety of ailments from hangovers to erectile dysfunction. The price of rhino horns were higher than gold making the hunters more greedy for it. Not just the poaching and hunting are accused for this cause, but also the habitat loss is responsible which resulted in death of many Rhinos from past many years.
“The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the environment in which it lives, because there’s a mutual dependency between it and millions of other species of both animals and plants.”
-David Attenborough.
World Rhino Day: How to celebrate this day?
Celebrate this world rhino day with your family and friends by educating them about the crisis that Rhinos are facing. Think of some actions that could be taken in this regard. Spread awareness and concerns for this species and try to build a safe habitat for them. Save and protect the Rhinos for our future generations too, they are a part of our heritage as well as a part of the ecosystem.