Endangered Mammals of Africa - White Rhinoceros
A Big Five Giant in Danger of Extinction
May 17, 2009
According to The Rhino Resource Center, less than 100 White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) were left in the wild in 1895. In 2007, scientists estimated the population of the southern white rhino around the world to be around 17,000, depicting one of the success stories of nature conservation. Very few, if any, white rhinoceros are found outside protected conservation areas.
In Africa, it has been found that two sub-species of the White Rhino exists: the northern white rhinoceros and the southern white rhinoceros. There were allegedly only four northern white rhino left in 2007 in the wild and all in the Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. In a report by Lewis Smith in Times Online, fears were raised that poachers killed even these four.
Why are White Rhino Threatened
Cave paintings in Europe and Asia confirm that early European man knew White Rhinoceros. The Rhino roamed free on the African savanna and are depicted in historic Bushman paintings found for instance at Twyfelfontein in Namibia, Africa.
Factors that contributed to the near demise of the White Rhino are legion and include:
- Upon exploring new territory, settlers hunted the rhino both for food and to rid the land of dangerous beasts in order to start farming operations. Conservation of wildlife did not receive consideration, as the survival of the humans in the new, unchartered territory, was paramount.
- White Rhinoceros inhabits long-and-short-grass savannahs and woodlands of southern and central Africa. It requires relatively flat terrain, bush for cover, grass for grazing and water for drinking and wallowing in. Continuing deforestation and usurping of grasslands to make way for farming activities resulted in the rapid shrinking of available natural habitat where White Rhino can exist.
- Trophy hunting of White Rhino contributed to the second largest land mammal's near extinction. African hunting safaris, although less popular today, were unregulated until the middle 1900s and hunting Rhino were regarded as one of the most dangerous and rewarding hunts.
- Civil war on the African continent resulted in the demise of most of the wildlife in the war-torn countries. The White Rhino were not spared, and today the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, threatens the existence of the few remaining northern white rhinoceros.
- Poverty and greed provides a fertile breeding ground for the illegal trade in Rhino horn and poaching of Rhino to obtain the horn is rife today. Alleged medicinal use of Rhino horn in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the ornamental value of the horn as a dagger handle in North Africa and the Middle East, still makes poaching these animals a lucrative business.
Current Status Of White Rhinoceros
The Southern White Rhinoceros is listed by IUCN's Redlist of Endangered Species as 'nearly threatened' while the Northern White Rhinoceros is listed as 'critically endangered'. Unless poaching in the National Parks is eradicated, these animals might still face an uphill battle for survival.
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