l33g0's video: Surprise Rhino Encounter on Road Trip in Southern Africa

We had a nice suprprise encounter with white rhinoceroses. These beautiful animals were just munching away by the road in Southern Africa. This video was taken in the early 2010s. At the start of the 20th century 500,000 rhinos roamed the wild. By 1970 the worldwide population population fell to 70,000. Today, the number of rhinos surviving in the world is just over 27,000. In the last decate, poachers have killed almost 10,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia to feed the demand for hirn on the black market. Poaching gangs are becoming increasingly sophisticated There are 5 species of rhino in the world. These include two African rhino species - black and white rhinos. The remaining three are Asian rhino species, which include greater one–horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos.   Both black and white rhinos are actually grey. The white rhino is said to have gotten its name from the Afrikaans word for wide (‘wyd’), referring to its wide, square lip (in contrast, black rhinos have a pointy upper lip). Early English explorers mistook this word for ‘white’ and consequently named this species ‘white’ rhino, and the other ‘black’ rhino to differentiate.   Sumatran rhinos are the smallest of all rhinos, but they can still weigh 600kg (almost 95 stone). On the other hand, white rhinos are the largest of the rhino species, weighing up to 3,500 kg. That is more than 550 stones, or well over 3 tonnes, which is mighty impressive considering they mainly eat grass and leaves. Rhinos are plant eaters. White and Greater one-horned rhinos are grazers that spend their days much like cows and horses, munching away on grasses and shoots. Black, Sumatran, and Javan rhinos are browsers, and have a prehensile upper lip that is adapted to allow them to twist and break twigs and leaves. Much of what rhinos eat is low in nutrients, so they tend to wander around their habitat and eat on the go. And, well, eating a lot leads to pooping a lot. Rhinos’ eyesight isn’t great – they’re unable to see a motionless person at a distance of 30m – they mainly rely on their strong sense of smell.  International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2023 Estimated Population, Trend and Status: White rino 16,803; Decreasing; Near threatened White rhinos (Ceratotherium simum) are the most populous of the five rhino species with approximately 16,803 animals across 11 countries in Africa Unfortunately, from 2012 to 2021 their large numbers made them the primary target for rhino poachers, who are part of transnational criminal syndicates looking to sell rhino horn on the black market. Black rhino 6,487; Increasing; Critically endangered Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) can currently be found in 12 countries in Africa, totalling an estimated 6,487 individuals.  At one time, black rhinos were the most common of the world’s rhino species and records indicate there could have been as many as 100,000 throughout Africa in 1960. By 1970, poaching had reduced the population to approximately 65,000 and black rhinos continued to decline precipitously until a low of about 2,300 individuals in the mid 1990s.  Thanks to intense protection and management efforts, black rhino populations stabilized and despite ongoing poaching pressure, and have increased by approximately 28% over the last decade.  Greater one-horned rhino 4,014; Increasing; Vulnerable Greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) reside primarily in India and Nepal, though there is a population that occasionally crosses into Bhutan. Bhutan, India and Nepal work together to implement a trans-boundary management strategy for the greater one-horned rhino. Thanks to this collaboration and strict government protection and management, the greater one-horned rhino population has steadily increased over the last century, and has grown about 20% over the last decade Though the greater one-horned rhino population is growing, the species is still classified as Vulnerable. Poaching remains a significant threat, and the species has been driven from many of the areas where it used to be common. Javan rhino 76 (with 12 missing); Stable; Critically endangered Since the 2011 death of the last Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) in Vietnam, the species now only exists in one country, in one national park – Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP). Once ranging throughout southeast Asia, Javan rhinos have been hunted to near extinction with a single, small population remaining. Sumatran rhino 34-47; Decreasing; Critically endangered Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) are also extant in just one country, Indonesia. The IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group (AsRSG) reports that there are up to 4 isolated populations and as many as 10 subpopulations of Sumatran rhino left in Indonesia. Only one of these wild populations, in Gunung Lesuer, is believed to have enough individuals to be viable. https://rhinos.org/ https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/fascinating-facts/rhinos