Endangered Rhinoceros
Status: Endangered
Species: U. maritimus
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Species: Ceratotherium (white), Dicerorhinus (Sumatran Rhinoceros), Diceros Black Rhinoceros), Rhinoceros
Lifespan: Wild rhinos live up to 35 years. In captivity, a rhino may live 40 years.
Range: Africa and Asia
Size: The five species range in weight from 750 pounds to 8,000 pounds and can be anywhere from four and a half to six feet tall.
Habitat: Rhino habitat ranges from savannas to dense forests in tropical and subtropical regions. Black rhinos have various habitats, but mainly areas with dense, woody vegetation. White rhinos live in savannas with water holes, mud wallows and shade trees. The Asian rhino lives anywhere from a dense rain forest to the wetlands and plains of Asia.
Diet: Rhinoceros diet depends on the species but their diet ranges from vegetation, including leaves, buds and shoots of plants, bushes and trees to feeding on grassy plains
Today there are 5 species and 11 subspecies of rhinos surviving on earth. Two species (Black & White) occur in Africa. Both species have two horns. Three species (Indian, Javan, and Sumatran) occur in Asia. Asian rhinos include the Indian, the Javan, each with one horn, and the Sumatran, which has two.
African – White and Black Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros – The Africa species is made up of the White Rhinoceros and the Black Rhinoceros. The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped Rhinoceros is broken up into two sub species the Northern White Rhinoceros and the Southern White Rhinoceros. Northern White Rhinoceros can b found in East and Central Africa south of the Sahara but is considered a critically endangered animal. According to BBC, there are only thirteen northern white rhinos left in the world as of 2007.
Black Rhinoceros- Due to poachers, the population of this species decreased 96% since 1970. They range in Africa from Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. In 1970, it was estimated that there were approximately 65,000 Black Rhinos in Africa but by 1992-93, there were only 2,300 surviving. Today there are about 3600. The population has been raised in recent years due to aggressively protecting the species.
Asian – Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros
Indian Rhinoceros – The Indian Rhinoceros or the Great One-horned Rhinoceros is found in Nepal and in Assam, India. They range in the tall grasslands and forests in the foothills of the Himalayas. They also range in the Riverine grasslands but also graze in the adjacent woodland in Northern India and Southern Nepal. Today there are about 2400 left in the wild.
Javan Rhinoceros – The Javan Rhinoceros is one of the rarest and most endangered large mammals anywhere in the world. Currently only about 60 remain in Java, Indonesia and Vietnam. They prefer to live in dense lowland rain forest, tall grass and reed beds that are plentiful with large floodplains and mud wallows and not much is known about them.
Sumatran Rhinoceros – Currently there are about 30 left in the wild and their habitat includes the dense tropical forest, both lowland and highland, mainly in the Malay Peninsula, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on Boreno. The Sumatran Rhinoceros is the smallest species, as well as the one with the most fur, which allows it to survive at very high altitudes in Borneo and Sumatra.
Rhinos have existed on Earth for over 50 million years and have a glorious history. In the past, rhinos were much more diverse and it has only been in the past 100 years that man has been able to decimate this species. One of the saddest spectacles in the world has been the destruction and extinction of the rhinoceros. One of the most recognizable creatures on the planet, the rhinos now rank among the most endangered species on Earth who are valued for their horns; they face a serious threat from poaching.
And for what? Man has encroached on the rhino’s habitat and killed them for potions and trinkets. Some cultures believe that the powdered rhino horn will cure everything from fever to food poisoning and will enhance sexual stamina. All for the rhinoceros horns which people use for traditional Asian medicine for aphrodisiacs and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman.
In the 1970’s the population was still very healthy but since than 96% of the population have been wiped out. The rhino has no natural predators expect for man who has systematically hunted these animals for profit and greed.
Well guys, this is 2007 and we have other means to cure our medical and sexually dysfunctions other than destroying an animal off the face of the planet. And to put my cents in, doesn’t China have a billion people I think they can skip the aphrodisiacs. Worst comes to worse pop some Viagra (comes rhinoceros free).
The rhinos do not destroy land or livestock and do not tear down or infringe on farmers and their pastures except for grazing. As solitary creatures, both males and females rhinos establish territories. And on the plains of Africa there is room for all to cohabitate but the senseless individuals who hunt these animals for profit are the true evils of the world.
In Africa today they have to fence off the rhinos and follow them in case of poached attacks. Without such drastic effects, the rhino would have been extinct years ago.
Please do all you can do to save the rhinoceros?
You can adopt a rhino in AWF’s Animal Adoption Center which supports AWF’s rhino conservation program
