World Rhino Day
Today, Wednesday 22 September, is World Rhino Day. A day of awareness for all the five rhino species that live in Africa and Asia and the hard work that is being done by conservationists to save them. Since 2011, World Rhino Day has been celebrated internationally by the International Rhino Foundation, every year on 22nd September – this is their 10th anniversary!
This year they will be hosting special rhino events including their annual State of the Rhino address. They also have limited edition World Rhino Day t-shirts available through September, and have even created shareables to help you also spread awareness about rhinos.
World Rhino Day Online Schedule – celebrating rhinos with the International Rhino Foundation
9:00 am EST – Nina Fascione (IRF Executive Director) will provide her annual State of the Rhino address. Her address will include detailing population trends and other topics in rhino conservation. The video will be streamed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their LinkedIn and Youtube channel.
11:00 am EST – CeCe Sieffert (IRF Chief Conservation Director) joins Exploring By The Seat of Your Pants to talk Javan and Sumatran rhinos with students. A special guest, Sectionov (IRF Indonesia Program Manager), will join them online from Indonesia. Tune in live on YouTube
13:30 EST – Dr. Rhino will be live from Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, talking rhinos with the zoo team on Twitch at Twitch.tv/drrhino_
14:30 EST Chris Whitlatch (IRF Communications Director) will bring you up close and personal with the white rhinos at the Nashville Zoo live on Facebook
Don’t forget that Zambia is 6 hours ahead of EST and all the links are on their website!
Join Team Rhino!
Rhinos once roamed across most of Sub-Saharan Africa and ranged from India, throughout Southeast Asia, across the Indonesia archipelago. Every year, more and more rhinos are killed for their distinctive horns. It is thought that rhino populations have decreased by up to 96% over the last 100 years. All five species, including our White, or Square-lipped, Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) and our larger Black, or Hook-lipped, cousin (Diceros bicornis) now face extinction from poaching and habitat loss.
Scouts and rangers are the front line of defence. They live in the bush and forests for weeks on end, guarding rhinos, tracking down and arresting poachers, removing snares and, in some countries, even transport rhino orphans and adults after poaching attacks. Efforts are underway to stop consumer demand for rhino horns and to encourage countries to enforce their own laws prohibiting the international trade in horn.
Why not join Team Rhino and sign their pledge to help protect these vulnerable and endangered species?
Local Appeal for our Livingstone Rhinos
At this time of year as we head into the hot, dry season, there is little grass for the Livingstone rhinos to feed on. Being picky eaters, white rhinos cannot feed on leaves or twigs like their larger hooked lipped cousins. So, every dry season supplementary feed is bought in to ensure their survival. Their favourite grass is lucerne which has to be transported from over 200kms away to their home in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park. This food supplement is particularly needed for Jack, the 2 year old rhino toddler who needs sufficient nutrients in the grass for his growth and to keep him healthy. Lucerne is also needed for all the adult rhinos, especially the females to keep their fertility levels high.
One sustainable solution is to encourage local small scale farmers to grow this nutritious grass on an annual basis to feed the rhinos. This would cut travel time and costs, as well as benefiting local farmers as it would give them an extra income.
Destination Livingstone are trying to raise $10,000 so that the last remaining 8 white rhinos can be fed throughout our dry season. Normally income from tourists would help provide the money to buy lucernce, but with few visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, income for the park has drastically reduced.
You can watch their video and read more about our Livingstone rhinos at the GlobalGiving Fundraising campaign which runs until the end of September.