The Southern White Rhinoceros was once on the brink of extinction, with only 50 or so of them left on this planet.
Now, their numbers have rebounded to 17,000 and more, mainly due to the incredible efforts of a single national park in South Africa.
Most of the living species of white rhinos can be traced to a handful of rhinos who were protected in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, located in South Africa.
HiP is widely regarded by scientists and conservationists as the home of the rhinos because of their efforts. The park’s manager said that one of the park’s greatest achievements has been the incredible results that they witnessed with the conservation of rhinos.
One of the main reasons why rhinos of all kinds, including the southern white, are critically endangered are because of their horns. Although the horns are chemically no different from the human fingernails, they have been advertised as a miraculous panacea especially among Asia.
This inexplicable yet very real demand meant that there was a lot of money involved with the poaching of rhinos, especially in Africa where a great number of the population still lives under or around the poverty line.
While the park rangers have fended off local residents who hunted these big animals for their meat as part of their tradition, this rising threat of poachers fully armed with guns and explosives poses a new and even greater threat to both the large animal and rangers alike.
Richard Sawers, the aforementioned manager of HiP, said that the emergence of illegal poaching is becoming more prevalent in the southern parts of Africa because wild rhinos have more or less been driven to extinction in the northern parts of the continent for the same reason.
Sawers said that the park’s fight against the poachers is akin to a war, where a quick response is critical to defending the rhinos. HiP has many camera traps, which send the pictures and location took when the trap is triggered to the park management.
Once they receive and identify poachers, Sawers said that his team move quickly to the spot on helicopters. He said recently, it only took his team 8 minutes from discovery to resolving the issue.
We support and hope for a long and steady recovery to the white rhino population. Share with us your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to share this story with your friends.
Replaced!