Rhino Facts
Why RHinos Need Saving
We need to act now
At the beginning of the 20th century, 500,000 rhinos roamed Africa and Asia. By 1970, rhino numbers dropped to 70,000, and today, around 27,000 rhinos remain in the wild.
There are an estimated 3,549 white rhinos and about 268 black rhinos left in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. It might even be much less as you read this.
Poaching rhinos for their horn
Rhino poaching is being driven by the demand for rhino horn in Asian countries, particularly China and Viet Nam.
Rhino horn is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. They claim it cure headaches, fevers, convulsions and now even that it cures cancer as well. It is now used as status symbol to display success and wealth.
Poaching has become very sophisticated recently. Poachers are being supplied by international criminal gangs with military equipment to track and kill rhinos. The poachers seemed to be military trained as well. The rhinos are shot with silencers and many times their horns get viciously hacked off while still alive and then they are left to bleed to death while their calves watch. These calves are extremely traumatized when found.
A story of a survivor
Most of the time, poached rhinos can’t be saved, and they die in the process.
This is a story about a rhino that a dedicated vet has been able to save. Her name is Thandi and even when they hacked her face off she survived and went on to produce 4 rhino calves. This has given us hope to try and save the poached rhino.
Please watch this video here.
