"Don’t let rhinos become one of the dinos."
September 22 is a special day for cause-related organizations, NGOs, zoos and the public to celebrate the existence of the endangered species; Rhinoceros and work to eliminate the demand for rhino horn by highlighting efforts to debunk myths about rhino horn. World Rhino Day is observed to create awareness and educate people about the importance of rhinos to the ecosystem. Meant for Asian and African species of rhinoceros, the day celebrates the animals and encourages people to take steps for their conservation.
Speaking of this day, World Rhino Day was first celebrated on 22 September 2011 though it was announced by World Wildlife South Africa in 2010. Rhino lovers; Lisa Jane Campbell and Rhishja Cota are to be credited for celebrating Rhino Day. Today, rhinos fight for their survival as they are hunted and poached to the brink of extinction. Until the demand for rhino horns is reduced, rhinos will remain at risk.
The preservation of rhinos is the need of the hour as over 7100 African rhinos have been killed due to poaching in the last 10 years. In the case of Nepal, the latest news of July 6 informs that two one-horned rhinoceroses were killed in Chitwan National Park where the horns and hooves of one had been taken away. Many of these devastating poaching incidents have left behind young, defenceless, orphaned calves. South Africa was fast becoming the centre of the rhino poaching crisis, Rhinos were being brutally murdered daily in National Parks, Provincial Parks and on private property to meet the demand for bogus medicines made from rhino horns, The illegal rhino horn trade catapulted the status of the White Rhino to "Near Threatened" and the Black Rhino to "Critically Endangered".
Of course, no species should go extinct because man and rhinos are iconic symbols and tourism-draw cards. They are also keystone and umbrella species whose presence and role within an ecosystem have a disproportionate effect on other organisms within the system. The rhino is a mega-herbivore and consumes more than 50 kg of vegetation per day and deposits more than 20 kg of dung. This dung fertilises the soil and provides livelihoods for many other species. By wallowing in the mud puddles, they help to create natural water holes and keep existing water holes open; providing a significant impact on topography. Thus, being one of the iconic "Big Five", rhinos play a vital role in monetising ecosystems and allowing other less charismatic and obscure species to continue playing their ecosystem roles. Ashley Purdy has said the Rhinos are just fat unicorns. If we'd give them the time and attention, they deserve, as well as a diet. They'd reveal their majestic ways.
This year's World Rhino Day is observed under the theme "Five Rhino Species Forever". The goals of this day are to promote the noble cause of raising awareness about the need to save rhinos from the danger of their lives. The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the environment in which it lives because there's a mutual dependency between these umbrella species and millions of other species of both animals and plants. When a species is endangered, it's gone. Once it's gone, it's over. We cannot call ourselves humans if we cannot save innocent rhinos. So, let us save these animals because they make our existence possible.
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