BY DR. RAVINDER PALL SAINI,
IFS (RETIRED)
MEMBER, BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DEHRADUN
DEHRADUN, 22 SEPTEMBER 2022
The world rhino day is celebrated this year on 22 September and the theme is “Five Rhino Species Forever”. From over 5 lakhs rhinos living during the beginning of the twentieth century today only 18,000 exist on the earth.Three species of rhino—black, Javan, and Sumatran—are critically endangered. Mostly rhinos are poached, though the trading of horns is banned worldwide, but there is still huge demand in Chinese medicine manufacturing from rhino bones though officially banned.
About one million year ago, the first wooly rhinoceros appeared in China.
It is irrevocable to take the lives of rhinos into utmost concern. It matters a lot for our ecology. There are only 5 species of rhinos which survive on earth now. Each of them has its own distinctive ways of conforming to the habitat wherein they inhabit. The after affects of ruthless deforestation, developing industrialization and related human upliftment activities, the rhino life is under severe threat. It is now imperative for maintaining the balance of the existing ecology. It is inescapable to protect the rhino life for the future by present conservation efforts.
A rhinoceros, commonly abbreviated to rhino, is one of any five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae, as well as any of the numerous extinct species therein. Two of the extant species are native to Africa, and three to Southern Asia.
The Five Surviving Species of Rhino Are:
1. WHITE RHINO: Ceratotherium simum: Africa’s largest species of rhino, also known as the ‘square-lipped’ rhino. There are two subspecies of the white rhinoceros, the southern white rhino (C. simum simum) and the northern white rhino (C. simum cottoni), which is considered extinct in the wild.
Distribution: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda.
IUCN Status: Near Threatened
Population: 15,942
Habitat: Grassland and savanna
Weight: 1,800kg to 2,700kg
2. BLACK RHINO: Diceros bicornis: About two thirds the size of the white rhino, the black rhino is also known as the ‘hook lipped’ rhino.
Distribution: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya.
IUCN Status: Critically endangered
Population: 6,195
Habitat: Tropical grassland, Shrublands, deserts
Weight: 900kg to 1,400kg
3. GREATER ONE HORNED RHINO: Rhinoceros unicornis. Asia’s largest species of rhino, also known as the Indian rhino.
Distribution: India, Nepal.
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Population: 4,014
Habitat: Tropical grassland, shrublands, savanna
Weight: 1,800kg to 2,700kg
4. SUMATRAN RHINO: Dicerorhinus sumatrensis. Closest living relative to the woolly rhinos. Only species to still be covered in hair.
Distribution: Sumatra, Sabah.
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Population: 34 to 47
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical forests
Weight: 550kg to 1,000kg
5. JAVAN RHINO: Rhinoceros sondaicus.
Distribution: Sumatra, Sabah.
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Population: 76
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical forests
Weight: 900kg to 2,300kg
“The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it’s not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It’s because of Beyoncé’s handbags.”
~~~~~~~~ Steven Patrick Morrissey, British singer.
World Rhino Day celebrates Rhinoceroses and generates awareness of issues regarding their well-being. In recent years, rhinos have been threatened by poaching, urbanization, and pollution, which have left certain rhino species on the brink of extinction while leaving other
species severely endangered.
World Rhino Day was first planned by the World Wildlife Fund-South Africa in 2010. Then, in 2011, Lisa Jane Campbell of Zimbabwe and Rhishja Larson joined forces to promote World Rhino Day 2011. Since then, September 22nd has been celebrated annually by governments, animal rights organizations and animal enthusiasts as World Rhino Day.
Some World Rhino Day Facts & Quotes:
There are all five species of rhino: black, white, greater one-horned rhinos, Javan and Sumatran. All Rhinoceros are herbivores, meaning that they only consume plants, and lots of them.
The Black, Javan and Sumatran Rhinoceros species are all listed as Critically Endangered, meaning that they have a 50% chance of extinction within 3 generations.
In 1960, there were more than 2,000 northern white rhinos in Africa. Today, there are only 2 of them remaining. The last male of the subspecies, Sudan, died March 19, 2018. He was the father and grandfather of the two remaining ones, both of which are females held in captivity in Kenya with round-the-clock armed security against poaching.
The white rhino is the second largest land mammal on Earth after the elephant.
“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
The Indian Rhino Saga
The Indian rhinoceros, or greater one-horned rhinoceros, (Rhinoceros unicornis) has a single horn 20 to 60 cm long. It is nearly as large as the African white rhino. Its thick, silver-brown skin folds into the shoulder, back, and rump, giving it an armoured appearance. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps, and it has very little body hair. Grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2,500–3,200 kg. Shoulder height is 1.75–2.0 m.
Females weigh about 1,900 kg and are 3–4 m long. The record-sized specimen was approximately 4,000 kg.
Flagship Species of Northern Bengal Landscape. Prominent presence after Kaziranga National Park of Assam. Species also present in Dudhwa National park in Uttar Pradesh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pics by me
Compilation of Field Visits to Jaldapara, Gorumara National Parks and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary. Also, from Alzu and Kruger in South Africa, trip. Pics of Javan and Sumatran courtesy @helpingrhinos.org
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