Why Endangered?

The Black Rhino was declared endangered in 1986 by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The species total population, an estimated 4,848, has decreased by 90% in the past three generations. These are harrowing facts about the sad truth of the Black Rhino.

Black_Rhino_Decline

Poaching is the single largest threat to the Black Rhino. Rhinos are prized for their horns, made up of ivory, a highly valued commodity around the world. The instability of the political region did not help either because there was no stable government to enforce anti-poaching laws. The rhinos were severely poached to the point where the Western Black Rhino subspecies became extinct. Now the demand for ivory has gone up because of the lack of rhinos. 330 Black Rhinos were hunted in South Africa in 2010. That is one for nearly every day.

Rhino_horns

The Rhino Horn

Deforestation also presents a large problem for the rhino. The Rhino presides in heavily wooded biomes in which the trees not only provide shelter, but also provide food. Fellow species families such as primates have also been heavily affected.  About 7.6% of South Africa is forested. Between 2005 and 2010 0.8% of the 7.6% was lost.

A once wooded forest destroyed

A broadleaved woodland forest destroyed

2 thoughts on “Why Endangered?

  1. Dillon, This page is better, but it could use more information. How many of these Rhinos are living today? How has political instability harmed the Rhino? Need to fix grammatical errors here as well. Please make your Chart image larger so it can be read. You are getting 20/25 pts for checkpoint #3

  2. Dillon the info is great on this page. On suggestion I have is to put caption under each picture. On other pages i saw a few example of the same thing: pictures not having captions.

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