The Slaughter of the Rhino

Mama gnome strives to stay positive and see the glass half-full.

But it's hard to keep a stiff upper gnome lip and be optimistic when you learn about the slaughter of the Rhino.

Rhinos are being slaughtered for their horns.

Rhino horns are illegally sold and bought in Asia for use for "traditional Chinese medicine" and in the Middle East as handles for ornamental daggers.

Last June 2010, poachers in South Africa killed..."the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg...(it) bled to death after having its horn hacked off."

The rhino was a mother.

"Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos."

According to this report, rhino poaching has severely worsened with:

Wildlife officials in...South Africa say 2010 was an extraordinarily bad year, with 333 rhinos poached, nearly three times as many as were lost in 2009. Five more rhinos were killed in the first weeks of 2011.

There are five species of rhinoceros:

First, the White Rhinoceros with two subspecies, the northern and southern white rhinoceros.

White Rhino

photo by: Ikiwaner, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waterberg_Nashorn3.jpg

Since 2008: "The last four northern white rhinoceros remaining in the wild are feared to have been killed for their horns by poachers and are now believed to be extinct in the wild. "

The second species, the Black Rhino, is listed as critically endangered by IUCN.

Black Rhino

photo by: Ikiwaner

According to the IUCN..."one of the main threats to the population is poaching for the international rhino horn trade."

The third species is the Indian Rhinoceros or the Great One-horned Rhinoceros. IUCN lists the Indian rhino as vulnerable and habitat decline threatens this species.

Indian Rhino
photo by: Fritz Geller-Grimm

The fourth species is the Javan Rhinoceros.

Javan Rhino

1930 photo of Javan Rhino by: Hoogerwerf, Andries, Rhino Resource Center

Mama gnome has featured this rhino sadly as a Mystery Animal of the Day,for it is considered the most endangered of all the largest mammals in the world.

According to this report:
"Last year, a Javan rhino, which is one of the world's rarest mammals, was found dead in a Vietnamese national park with its horn chopped off. Experts believe only three to five animals still exist in Vietnam."


The fifth species is the Sumatran Rhinoceros.

Sumatran Rhinos at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens

photo by: Charles W. Hardin

IUCN lists the Sumatran Rhino as critically endangered with less than 250 mature individuals and their population continue to decline because of illegal poaching and habitat loss.

Here is a video reporting about rhino poaching. Warning. Some images show the slaughtered rhinos.


video by: AlJazeeraEnglish

Do you think there is any hope for the Rhino? What can we do to help save them?

Visit WWF.

Spread the terrible news about this animal.

Please help save the rhino.

Please help and go green.

(c) 2009-2011 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog