Rhinos on the brink of extinction

[Laura902]

The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) has earned the dubious honor of being the most endangered rhino of all. Only 60 remain. But the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is not far behind and black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) are also Critically Endangered.

The Indian one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is Endangered. In the Near Threatened category, the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) population stands at 11,300, huge by comparison to the others, but small for a large, slow developing species. Poaching represents the biggest threat in all cases but habitat loss plays a role as well.
Threats to Rhinoceros

Rhino horn is highly valued in Traditional Chinese Medicine for reducing fever. While there are many substitutes available in the Chinese pharmacy, purists still insist on using it. And in the Middle East, dagger handles made of horn are also highly prized. Rainforests and wetlands, prime rhino habitat, are rapidly disappearing throughout Asia and Africa. Rhinos may weigh a ton but in the competition for food and land they are losing.


Javan Rhinoceros:
This species, one of the ten most endangered mammals in the world, lives in Indonesia with a remnant population on mainland Vietnam, separated by the Java Sea. Shrinking rainforests are adding to the poaching problems the Javan rhino faces. One of the smaller rhinos, they are most closely related to the Indian rhino which also has just one horn.

Sumatran rhinoceros
There were once 3 subspecies of Sumatran rhino , one on the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, one on Borneo and one in Burma and east India. It is not clear whether the Burma/east India population still exists. This species is the only hairy rhino. Its remaining populations also suffer from habitat fragmentation which isolates small groups and contributes to their decline.

Read more at Suite101: Five Different Rhinosceros: All Threatened as Poaching and Habitat Loss Reduce Their Numbers http://endangered-species.suite101.com/article.cfm/five_different_rhinos#ixzz0k8iYhdiK


Fewer than 400 Sumatran rhinos are thought to exist, making it one of the rarest large mammals in the world

http://endangered-species.suite101.com/article.cfm/five_different_rhinos

[xchrom]

1. May it some how be that they can thrive. Nt

[kestrel91316]

2. Once we've killed off all the large mammals on earth via extinction,

we can finally move on to other, more important concerns, like new and improved Terminator Seed technology, and development of more persistent herbicides and pesticides to "keep food costs down", and breeding even more humans who need ever more cars and refrigerators and McMansions......

[Enthusiast]

3. This is why I've

come to hate and disrespect traditional Chinese medicine. Now that there is real help in the form of viagra those fucks will continue to use rhino horn and tiger penis. Disgusting.