World Rhino Day was first started by WWF South Africa in 2010. Since then, on the 22nd of September each year, World Rhino Day is celebrated in an attempt to raise awareness of the devastating situation Rhino’s around the world are facing.
Whilst poaching is the most prominent and well known of the issues facing the Rhino, unfortunately for these amazing and ancient animals it is not the only one. Habitat loss, a reduction in their genetic diversity, and disease are all further decimating Rhino populations.
Many Rhinos are poached simply for their horns and are left in immeasurable pain to bleed out and die once the horn has been ruthlessly hacked off. The horns are bought and sold for medicinal and sometimes ornamental purposes, even though they have no medicinal value as they are made from keratin, the same substance as human hair & nails.
The numbers surrounding the plight of the Rhino are simply staggering:
- As of the 27th August this year, in South Africa alone 749 Rhinos have been poached
- During 2014, 1,215 Rhinos were killed in South Africa
- This is one death every 8 hours
- At the beginning of the 20th century there were 500,000 Rhinos around the world
- Now there are only 29,000 in the wild
With numbers falling so rapidly it is estimated that Rhinos in the wild could be extinct by 2026. This is why change need to occur now. Awareness of the issues is key and one example of how to help raise it is through Save The Rhino’s annual campaign “Nail it for Rhinos.” By getting people to paint their nails in creative ways whilst donating to their cause, this is an easy and effective way for people to get involved. Other methods of aiding Rhino conservation range from something as simple as sharing a post on social media, to something as hands on as volunteering with the Rhinos out in Africa.
Without human help, Rhino’s will become extinct. It is as simple as that. World Rhino Day is a great chance to help make a difference, but it is only so if everyone plays their part.
