Only the Indian species shows some recovery, but this is a very small amount
The situation of the rhinoceros in the world, the largest land animal after the elephant, continues to be worrying: from 500,000 individuals at the beginning of the 20th century to only 27,000 today. Only some populations, such as the Indian rhinoceros, appear to be experiencing some improvement.
The wild Indian rhinoceros population is experiencing some recovery at the conservation level. At least, that is what seems to indicate the increase that has occurred in the population of this species during this last year, and that has allowed India to go from 3,700 Indian rhinoceroses to 4,014 wild individuals.
This has been highlighted this week by the educators of Terra Natura Benidorm in the activity zooexperienceto commemorate World Rhino Day, which was celebrated this Thursday.
Of all the rhinoceros species that exist in the world, the Indian one is the only one that has managed to recover slightly, since in the case of the rhinoceroses of the African continent, the opposite occurs. Specific, Of the five species of rhinos that exist, three are at high risk of extinction. The rhinoceros is one of the largest land animals in the world and its greatest threat is humans.
Terra Natura Benidorm is considered a benchmark center in the care, management and conservation of the Indian rhinoceros at a European level. In fact, it is the only Spanish park that has managed to reproduce the species on up to two occasions in its facilities. The last calf that was born in this center is three years old and already weighs around 1,000 kilos.
Rhinos were nearly wiped out when settlers came to Africa and India. This year there are an estimated five thousand black rhinos in the wild. The rhino population has seen a notable decline in recent years. In Africa, southern white rhinos, once thought to be extinct, now thrive in protected sanctuaries and are listed as Near Threatened. But Western black rhinoceros and northern white rhinoceroses recently became extinct in the wild.For centuries, there has been a belief in Asia that rhino horns have medicinal properties that can be used to cure rheumatism, gout, high fevers or even demonic possession. In recent years they are credited with the ability to cure cancer or serve as an aphrodisiac.They have no predators in the wild; his threat is man. There are currently five species of rhinos, and three of them are at high risk of extinction. They are the largest land animals, after the elephants.
Rhinos once freely inhabited many places in Eurasia and Africa, and they were known by the first Europeans who represented them in cave paintings. At the beginning of the 20th century, it is estimated that there were around 500,000 rhinos in Africa and Asia. In 1970, the population decreased to 70,000 but today there are only about 27,000 rhinos left in the wild.
Due to constant poaching and habitat loss, today very few rhinos survive outside national parks and reserves. Two species of rhinos in Asia – the Javan and the Sumatran – are critically endangered. A subspecies of the Javan rhino was declared extinct in Vietnam in 2011. However, a small population of the Javan rhino still clings to survival on the Indonesian island of Java.
Successful conservation efforts have helped Asia’s third species, the Indian rhinoceros, increase in population numbers. Its status changed from Threatened to Vulnerable, but the species is still poached alone for its horn, according to WWF on its website.
WWF is an NGO that plays a key role in the fight to protect rhinos. With nearly 60 years of experience, WWF secures and protects rhino populations and establishes new populations through translocations, the process of moving rhinos from parks that have significant populations to ones that historically did but currently do not.
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