Green Group discussion

Not looking good for the last few Northern White Rhinos.
https://www.independent.ie/world-news...

Dublin Zoo provides information about the status of other rhino species, including the Southern White Rhino as they were proud to annouce the birth of a calf in Nov 2017.
https://www.dublinzoo.ie/News/66-192/...

https://www.ecowatch.com/northern-whi...
Gone.

And it was human ignorance that brought this about. True story: I once complained to a woman I knew about the use of rhino horn as an aphrodisiac and how ridiculous that was. She called me intolerant of opposing viewpoints. Ignorance is a difficult thing to change.

Agreed.

Clare wrote: "https://www.ecowatch.com/northern-whi...
Gone."

Sigh. Heartbreaking.

Brian wrote: "Clare wrote: "https://www.ecowatch.com/northern-whi......"
A friend just sent me this same URL and I was about to post. Apparently, she was so upset that she had to tell someone!

All the species / subspecies of rhinos are endangered or critically endangered. Some are down to tens of members.

Eventually, we must realize the days of the wild rhino are numbered. The remaining ones will have to be confined into some sort of open zoo format. I think that is just reality setting in.

Confined and protected by armed guards.

Absolutely. Paid for by visitors.

Work on recreating the northern white rhino.

https://www.ecowatch.com/scientists-g...

While six black rhinos have been returned to Chad, which had wiped them out. I've got my doubts.
With Lake Chad vanishing fast, how can any such wildlife survive the desertification of the country?
https://www.ecowatch.com/black-rhinos...

Glad to see that respectable auction houses have bowed to pressure and agreed to stop selling rhino horn.

https://earther.gizmodo.com/internati...

Only 67 of Javan Rhinos now exist in this world!
Entire species of these rhinos could be eradicated if there is another tsunami strike in Indonesia.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-...

Thank you for that info, Ayla.

I mentioned that to my husband as I knew the rhinos were crowded into a reserve on the tip of the island, for the reason that it wasn't inhabitable due to Ana-Krakatoa.

Meet the man working with the last northern white rhinos.

https://earther.gizmodo.com/meet-the-...

Sumatran rhinos; scattered through a few countries, one of which has just lost its last male.

A project to bring the adults together to find mates is getting under way.
https://www.care2.com/causes/malaysia...

Rhino horns seized in Vietnam.

https://www.independent.ie/world-news...

Some happier news.
Baby black rhino born in zoo.

https://www.independent.ie/world-news...

Baby white rhino born through AI in zoo. Note the gestation period is almost 500 days.

https://www.independent.ie/world-news...

Scientists have fertilised some of the eggs from the last two Northern White Rhinos. The hope is to produce calves in surrogate mother rhinos.

https://www.ecowatch.com/northern-whi...

Indonesia has spotted four new rhino calves.

https://www.ecowatch.com/4-rhino-calv...

Great news, another black rhino calf was born. Michigan Zoo has shared footage of the first black rhino calf born in their 100 years of history.
https://www.ecowatch.com/black-rhino-...

BBC tells us all the steps required to try with surrogate rhino mothers to reproduce the Northern White Rhino.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa...

The black rhinos are helped to avoid danger by sentry oxpeckers.

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-black-r...

"Within Chitwan National Park, thousands of animals have reportedly died as a result of recent flooding, including two One-horned rhinos. An additional ten rhinos were swept away across the border with India and had to be transported back to the park, which required significant technical and financial resources.

In 2018, this project funded by WWF’s Wildlife Adaptation Innovation Fund, constructed a raised soil mound in a buffer area of Chitwan National Park to serve as a refuge for rhinos and other wildlife during extreme flooding events. "

Read the full story from WWF.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/b...

The woolly rhino went extinct - this paper says mainly through climate change. But looking at the top-down cascade of humans hunting megafauna before they hunted them out and had to switch to agriculture, I think it's likely that humans turned to hunting rhinos after they had hunted out the mammoths. Can we get a timeline comparison of the mammoth decline?

Anyway here you can see what the woolly beast looked like.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ancient...

Nepal has a success story.

https://phys.org/news/2021-04-rhino-p...

"Nepal's population of endangered one-horned rhinoceros has grown by more than a hundred over the past six years, officials said, with campaigners hailing the increase as a conservation "milestone".

The population rose to 752 across four national parks in the southern plains, up from 645 in 2015, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation said Saturday.

"The increase of rhinos is exciting news for us," the department's information officer, Haribhadra Acharya, told AFP on Sunday.

"But we have challenges ahead to expand the habitat areas of this animal to maintain the growth."

Thousands of one-horned rhinos once roamed the southern plains, but rampant poaching and human encroachment on their habitat reduced their numbers to around 100 in Nepal in the 1960s."

"Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell on August 24 have helped to fill the gaps in the rhino evolutionary family tree by analyzing genomes of all five living species together with the genomes of three ancient and extinct species.

The findings show that the oldest split separated African and Eurasian lineages about 16 million year ago. They also find that—while dwindling populations of rhinos today have lower genetic diversity and more inbreeding than they did in the past—rhinoceroses have historically had low levels of genetic diversity.

"We can now show that the main branch in the rhinoceroses' tree of life is among geographic regions, Africa versus Eurasia, and not between the rhinos that have one versus two horns," says Love Dalén of the Centre for Palaeogenetics and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. "The second important finding is that all rhinoceroses, even the extinct ones, have comparatively low genetic diversity. To some extent, this means that the low genetic diversity we see in present-day rhinos, which are all endangered, is partly a consequence of their biology."

https://phys.org/news/2021-08-genetic...

Now there's a sight you don't see every day.

"It is safer to transport a rhinoceros upside-down, and beards may be an evolutionary development to help protect men's faces from punches, according to scientific studies that won Ig Nobel prizes.
...

"The thing I love about wildlife veterinarians is you guys have to really think on your feet and think outside the box," said Robin Radcliffe, one of the authors of the African study that concluded rhinoceroses are more safely transported on their backs. "You have to be a genius and creative and sometimes even a little bit crazy to move rhinos this way.""

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2021...

Clare wrote: "Now there's a sight you don't see every day.

"It is safer to transport a rhinoceros upside-down, and beards may be an evolutionary development to help protect men's faces from punches, according t..."

I found this amazing about rhinos. If you rub their flanks, they'll lie on their side go i guess travelling upside down is no big deal.

I am sure they are sedated. Maybe it means they can travel with less sedation, which is risky in itself. I'm guessing this is also to keep weight off their lungs and heart.

https://phys.org/news/2022-10-photos-...

As with genetically tuskless female elephants being left to breed, the smaller horned rhinos are the last ones standing. Warning that this article shows an old photo of a hunted rhino.

"The researchers measured the horns of 80 rhinos, photographed in profile view between 1886 and 2018. The photographs, held by the Rhino Resource Center—an online repository—included all five species of rhino: white, black, Indian, Javan and Sumatran. Horn length was found to have decreased significantly in all species over the last century."

More information: Image-based analyses from an online repository provide rich information on long-term changes in morphology and human perceptions of rhinos, People and Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10406

Provided by University of Cambridge

Douglas Adams


and Mark Carwardine


included Northern White Rhinos in

Last Chance to See

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2...

"A name has finally been chosen for the only Indian rhino ever born in Ireland - and one of only six Indian rhino births in any zoo in the world this year.

The now ten-week-old Indian rhino calf, born at Fota Wildlife Park is to be called 'Jai', meaning 'victory' or 'triumph', following a public naming competition which saw the park receive almost 1,000 suggestions.

Listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with 3,300 living in the wild, Jai was born on 19 September after a gestation peirod of 16 months, to mother Maya and father, Jamil."

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2023...

"He spent his vast fortune on a 30-year quest to save the rhinoceros.

Today, at 81, his money is all but gone, and South African conservationist John Hume is throwing in the towel.

Later this week, Hume will auction off his rhino farm - the world's largest - to the highest bidder.

"I'm left with nothing except 2,000 rhinos and 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of land," Mr Hume quipped in an interview ahead of the sale.

South Africa is home to nearly 80% of the world's rhinos, making it a hotspot for poaching driven by demand from Asia, where horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effect.

The government said 448 of the rare animals were killed across the country last year, only three fewer than in 2021 despite increased protection at national parks such as the renowned Kruger.
...

"Miles of fences, cameras, heat detectors and an army of rangers patrol the site, which employs about 100 people.

The tight security is meant to dissuade would-be poachers sending the message that "they don't stand a chance", said the farm's head of security, Brandon Jones.

Speaking from the control room however Mr Jones said the exercise is only partially successful, as poachers will merely go and kill rhinos somewhere else."

The Rhino Conspiracy

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently welcomed the reintroduction of 16 southern white rhinoceroses to Garamba National Park, according to officials, as Phys.org reported. The last wild northern white rhino was poached there in 2006."

https://ecowatch.us7.list-manage.com/...

https://www.ecowatch.com/northern-whi...

"With only two female northern white rhinos left in the world, scientists are rushing to find ways to save the species before it’s too late. They’ve come one step closer to this goal via creating artificial rhino eggs from stem cells.

Led by a team of researchers at Leiden University, a new study in Scientific Reports highlights that the team was able to collect and find new information on pluripotent rhino stem cells. This data is an essential step in creating artificial rhino eggs in order to save the species from extinction."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

https://www.ecowatch.com/southern-whi...

"Conservation NGO African Parks has announced that it will work to rewild more than 2,000 southern white rhinos over the next decade.

The organization has purchased Platinum Rhino, the planet’s biggest private captive breeding operation for rhinos, a press release from African Parks said. The property covers more than 19,000 acres in South Africa’s North West province.

The 2,000 rhinos at Platinum Rhino represent as much as 15 percent of the remaining population of wild rhinos in the world."

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/a-r...

"Two wild-born and captive-raised rhinos will be moved from Nepal’s Chitwan National Park to Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve on World Tourism Day, Sept. 27, to boost tourism and biodiversity in eastern Nepal.
The rhinos, both female, were rescued as calves after being abandoned by their mothers, and raised in a rehabilitation center outside Chitwan, where they’ve since become habituated to humans.
The translocation is part of a larger effort to create viable populations of greater one-horned rhinos across Nepal, which has seen its rhino population grow from just 100 in 1966 to more than 750 at present.
Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, has no rhinos, but it also lacks tigers, which means it should be a safer environment for the two young transplants to adapt to."

Paul Ian Cross has kindly sent me an update. Exciting news.


"There is fantastic news on the horizon for nature lovers and conservation enthusiasts...

New Hope for Northern White Rhinos
Researchers have found a promising method to save the northern white rhino, a species on the edge of extinction, with only two animals remaining.

They’ve created a baby rhino using in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

IVF is a procedure where an egg and sperm are combined outside of the body in a laboratory dish to create an embryo, which is then implanted in the uterus to achieve pregnancy.

What’s even more astonishing is that they did it with southern white rhinos, which are close relatives of the northern white rhinos.

The next step in their plan is to do the same for the northern white rhino embryos.

Northern white rhinos were once found all across central Africa, but illegal hunting for their horns led to their tragic decline.

Today, only two northern white rhinos remain: two females named Najin and Fatu.

They live under strict protection at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, but they can’t have babies on their own.

The Biorescue team began their mission with southern white rhinos, which have a healthier population.

The journey was long and challenging, from learning how to collect eggs to creating rhino embryos in a lab and finally working out the right timing for the implantation to occur.

It took them 13 tries to achieve the first successful IVF pregnancy using southern white rhinos.

The embryo, created using an egg from a female southern white rhino in Belgium and sperm from a male in Austria, was successfully transferred to a southern white rhino mother in Kenya, who became pregnant.

However, this happy moment was followed by sadness when the surrogate passed away from a bacterial infection called Clostridia.

Despite this tragedy, the team discovered that their technique worked, proving that rhino IVF can result in a healthy pregnancy.

Now, they’re gearing up to try the same method with northern white rhino embryos.

There are only 30 of these precious embryos stored in Germany and Italy.

They were made using eggs from Fatu, one of the northern white rhinos in Kenya, and sperm collected from two northern white rhino males before they passed away.

To make this happen, they need to transfer the embryos into a southern white rhino mother, as neither of the last two surviving northern white rhinos can carry a pregnancy.

It’s a ground-breaking move that has never been attempted before, but the researchers are confident it will succeed.

The team hopes to implant these embryos in the coming months. Their goal is to have a baby northern white rhino born while Najin and Fatu are still alive.

This way, the calf can learn from the last two remaining northern white rhinos, preserving their unique behaviours and communication.

It’s important to note that bringing back a few more rhinos through IVF won’t save the entire species.

To have a sustainable population, the team is also exploring another experimental technique – creating rhino sperm and eggs from stem cells.

Some experts argue that we should focus on saving species with better odds, but the researchers point out that we are responsible for the northern white rhino’s plight due to greed and horn consumption.

Conservationists emphasise the vital role northern white rhinos play in their ecosystem and their commitment to doing everything possible to protect and recover the species.

This remarkable breakthrough brings hope to the northern white rhino’s survival story.

The researchers are working tirelessly to ensure these magnificent creatures have a chance to thrive again."

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-rare-ja...

"A new Javan rhinoceros calf has been spotted at an Indonesian national park, giving hope for the conservation of one of the world's most endangered mammals.

The calf, estimated to be between three and five months old, was spotted in footage captured last month by one of 126 camera traps installed in Ujung Kulon National Park on Java island.

The mammal, whose sex remains unknown, was seen walking with its mother inside the park, the last remaining wild habitat for Javan rhinos."

I'm reading:
The Last Rhinos: The Powerful Story of One Man's Battle to Save a Species

The good news, a black rhino calf born in the wild. The bad news, just one calf is something to celebrate and call a success.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/...

"A baby eastern black rhino has been born in Kenya, an event wildlife researchers are dubbing as a conservation success for the critically endangered species.

The calf, estimated to be 6 months old, was discovered in the Chyulu Hills in southern Kenya via a complex system of cameras and motion-sensor monitoring rangers in the region, Amy Baird, deputy director of Big Life Foundation USA, a conservation nonprofit, told ABC News.

The birth is considered rare because there are only about eight individuals in the small population of rhinos that live in the region. The rangers "didn't quite believe their eyes" when they first saw the baby while checking the feed, Baird said, adding that most rhino calves are born in conservation areas."

https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2024...

"James Larkin, director of the University of the Witwatersrand's radiation and health physics unit who spearheaded the initiative, told AFP he had put "two tiny little radioactive chips in the horn" as he administered the radioisotopes on one of the large animals' horns.

The radioactive material would "render the horn useless... essentially poisonous for human consumption" added Nithaya Chetty, professor and dean of science at the same university.
...
"In total, 20 live rhinos would be part of the pilot Rhisotope project whereby they would be administered a dose "strong enough to set off detectors that are installed globally" at international border posts originally installed "to prevent nuclear terrorism", said Prof Larkin.

Border agents often have handheld radiation detectors which can detect contraband in addition to thousands of radiation detectors installed at ports and airports, the scientists said."

The above measure won't stop transport on private planes and boats, but the ground up horn would be toxic. Then again, the purple cattle wormer didn't seem to be enough of a deterrent.

Woolly rhinos - they did have a hump! Possibly this depended on the time of year.

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-woolly-...

"Cave drawings made by ancient people in parts of Europe and Russia depict examples of the ancient woolly rhinoceros—an extinct species of rhino that was distantly related to the modern rhino. But researchers have been perplexed by the hump drawn on the creature's neck. Bones and the mummified remains of woolly rhinos never showed any sign of a hump.

Thus, despite the apparent accuracy of other animals drawn on the same walls, scientists had doubts. Such doubts, it appears, will have to be put to rest as the woolly rhino specimen found in 2020 definitely had a hump."

More information: Gennady G. Boeskorov et al, Reshaping a woolly rhinoceros: Discovery of a fat hump on its back, Quaternary Science Reviews (2024).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Journal information: Quaternary Science Reviews

Yorkshire Wildlife Park had the successful birth of a black rhino calf.

https://www.yorkshire.com/news/baby-r...

"Back in January, a very special baby made his debut at the park. This wasn’t just any arrival; it was the birth of Rocco, a black rhino. Now, that’s a massive deal because the black rhino is a critically endangered species. That’s a way of saying there are dangerously few of them left in the wild – less than 1,000, in fact. So, every single new calf is a huge step forward for the survival of this incredible animal. Rocco’s birth was a major success for the European breeding programme, which is basically a massive team effort between parks and zoos to help save a species from disappearing forever.

Seeing how much everyone loved Rocco, the WildLife Foundation, a charity based right there at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, had a fantastic idea. They launched an appeal called ‘Rocco’s Challenge’. The mission was simple but important: to channel all the public excitement around the new arrival into raising money to help save the black rhino. This charity campaign was all about turning happy headlines into real, practical support for wildlife conservation efforts."