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We will not lower our voices until the world hears the truth: Rhino horn is NOT medicine.

Recently, I had the exciting opportunity to be a guest on “The WildLife”, a radio talk show hosted by Dr. Laurel Neme. We discussed the illegal trade in rhino horn and the fact that because rhino horn has no real medicinal properties, this multimillion dollar illegal trade is built on a myth.

To listen to the podcast, click the green arrow below:

The radio spot was a chance to bring attention to Saving Rhinos’ efforts to bust the myths about rhino horn – which in turn would eliminate the market for rhino horn. I also stressed the importance of treating the illegal rhino horn trade as an organized crime issue, and shared my position on burning stockpiles of confiscated rhino horn as a statement to show the world that rhinos are more valuable alive than dead.

Dr. Laurel Neme is the author of Animal Investigators: How the World’s First Wildlife Forensics Lab is Solving Crimes and Saving Endangered Species. I enthusiastically recommend her book – check out the review here.

Learn more about Dr. Neme at CSI for Wildlife.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Over the last 40 years, the world’s overall rhinoceros population has declined by over 90% – and if not for dedicated conservation efforts over the last 100 years, it is likely that all rhinoceros species would already be extinct.

To help raise awareness for these proud pachyderms, here are 11 incredible facts about rhinos – plus a compilation of beautiful photos (with a couple of videos, too). Enjoy!

Rhino fact 1: There are two species of African rhino – the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) and the black rhino (Diceros bicornis). There are three species of Asian rhino – the greater one-horned (Indian) rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis), the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), and the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus).

Pictured: Black rhino

Wildlife officials in Malaysia are planning to capture a female Borneo rhino that was spotted by a camera trap, and introduce her to Tam, a male rhino under the care of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).

It is believed that fewer than 40 of these small rhinos still survive in fragmented pockets of forest, but they are isolated from other rhinos. The two main populations, numbering perhaps 13-15 rhinos each, are in Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve, with a few other isolated individuals scattered elsewhere.

The Borneo rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni) is the world’s smallest rhino, and a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis).

According to CEO of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), John Payne:

Sabah now represents the last hope of saving the species in Malaysia and in Borneo.

Sen Nathan, rhino conservation programme coordinator noted that poachers are the number one threat to Borneo rhinos.

We have reached a stage now where even habitat loss is not so much the main reason for extinction, rather the ruthless hunting of the last few remaining individuals, to supply ridiculous markets for horns, bones and other body parts.

BORA is assisting with the development of the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary – a 4,500ha reserve protected by an electric fence. Tam, a male Borneo rhino rescued from a palm oil plantation, is so far the first Sanctuary resident. He currently resides in a 2,500ha fenced area, where he will soon be joined by the female, once she is successfully captured.

To learn more about how you can help Borneo rhinos, please visit the Borneo Rhino Alliance website.

Source: AFP

Photo via Borneo Rhino Alliance

Very exciting news: Bush Warriors and Saving Rhinos have teamed up to celebrate the first-ever “Bush Warriors Rhino Week” in honor of one of the world’s most endangered animals!

Each of the five rhino species will have the opportunity to be the star of the immensely popular Bush Warriors: Stop Poaching and Bushmeat blog, as our own Saving Rhinos program director Rhishja Larson adds her voice to the Bush Warriors blog.

The celebration of rhinos has already started with today’s post featuring the critically endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis). In addition, the Saving Rhinos Rhino Species Fact Sheets will be available from the Bush Warriors blog as each species is profiled.

Bush Warriors Photo of the Day Contest: Focus on Rhinos

The Bush Warriors famous “Photo of the Day Contest” will focus on rhino photographs this week – so please help us celebrate by sharing your beautiful rhino images!

Please check out Bush Warriors Rhino Week and be sure to read An African Legend on the Brink of Extinction: Meet the Black Rhino!

Although only a handful of the Borneo subspecies of the Sumatran rhino still remains, new hope for this species has been discovered: A pregnant Borneo rhino has been captured on film!

According to the Borneo Rhino Alliance, a camera trap set up by the Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF-Malaysia caught the 20-year-old rhino. She is just one of perhaps 30 Borneo rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni) still surviving. They are the world’s smallest species of rhinoceros, with some reaching just three feet high at the shoulder.

Both the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis) and Borneo rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni) are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and have been included in CITES Appendix I since 1975.

The two principal threats are poaching and reduced population viability. Hunting is primarily driven by the demand for the supposedly medicinal properties of rhino horns and other body parts, and many centuries of over-hunting has reduced this species to a tiny percentage of its former population and range. The species is now so reduced that there are very small numbers in each locality where it still survives. As a result, breeding activity is infrequent, successful births are uncommon in many populations, and there is a severe risk of inbreeding depression (J. Payne pers. comm.).

Sumatran rhinos – along with all rhino species – have been slaughtered to near extinction due to superstitions about rhino horn as an Asian folk remedy. Unfortunately, illegal markets in rhino horn are thriving in southeast and east Asia. Alleged “medicines” comprised of rhinoceros horn are still manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical companies and touted as a cure for common ailments, such as pain, fever, and acne.

In addition, palm oil plantations are responsible for destroying Sumatran rhino habitat throughout the rhinos’ range and fragmenting already fragile populations.

To learn more, please visit Borneo Rhino Alliance.

The first breeding between captive-born Sumatran rhino Andalas and his Indonesian mate, Ratu, has sadly ended in a loss of the pregnancy. However, rhino experts say that it is not unusual for a rhino to lose her first pregnancy, and captive breeding efforts for the critically endangered Sumatran rhino will continue.

Sumatran rhinos Andalas and Ratu mated after three years of gradual introductions at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park. In February 2010, an ultrasound revealed that Ratu was pregnant, but recent examinations failed to find an embryo.

Dr. Susie Ellis, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation, explained that this is not out of the ordinary, and is hopeful for future breeding plans.

This is not unusual for a rhino’s first pregnancy. While we are saddened by this loss, the fact that we achieved a pregnancy confirms that our work with the Sumatran rhino breeding program is progressing. Ratu and Andalas are healthy and have produced one pregnancy, so we are optimistic that success will soon be achieved.

Sumatran rhino expert Dr. Terri Roth, whose extensive reproductive biology knowledge was behind three births at the Cincinnati Zoo, added that Emi lost her first pregnancies during the breeding program.

The fact that we achieved a pregnancy after only the third mating between Andalas and Ratu is still a victory. Emi, Andalas’ mother, lost a number of pregnancies early in gestation before she carried one to term. Early pregnancy loss in rhinos appears to be fairly common, but we have the advantage of being able to draw on our experience with Emi to help Ratu sustain her next pregnancy.

Sumatran rhino conservation

The International Rhino Foundation, in partnership with the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia, operates the 250-acre Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary under an agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. Five Sumatran rhinos currently reside at the Sanctuary, where they receive the benefits of state-of-the-art veterinary care while being able to roam in their natural rainforest habitat. The total Sumatran rhino population is estimated to be only 200.

According to Dr. Ellis, the IRF and Rhino Foundation of Indonesia are working to increase Sumatran rhino numbers in captivity, while protecting wild Sumatran rhinos.

Captive breeding is one part of an integrated Sumatran rhino conservation strategy. Our focus, along with our local partner, the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia, is to protect rhinos in the wild as well as to bolster the population through captive breeding. IRF also funds anti-poaching units in three Indonesian national parks.

Thanks to those programs, there has been no rhino poaching in the last five years, and poaching of other large vertebrates which share rhino habitat has decreased significantly. Saving this species is a balancing act. We must care for the wild population and also try to breed as many animals as possible in captivity in order to save it.

Indonesia is home to two critically endangered Asian rhino species, the Sumatran rhino and the Javan rhino. Conservationists are hopeful that solid success with Sumatran rhinos may provide a model for development of a similar program for critically endangered Javan rhinos. Although the Javan rhino population is stable for now, it numbers no more than 50 individuals in the wild, and there is no insurance population in captivity.

Asian superstitions about rhino horn are fueling rhino poaching crisis

Sumatran and Javan rhino habitats are threatened by rampant development, human encroachment, and the proliferation of palm oil plantations. However, the biggest threat to rhinos is illegal killing for their horns. Both Asian and African rhino populations are under extreme pressure from a 15-year high in poaching for rhino horn.

Although scientific analysis has confirmed rhino horn actually has no medicinal effect on humans, widespread superstitions about rhino horn as a “remedy” for common ailments still persist in southeast and east Asia.

Source: International Rhino Foundation

Image: Photo © N. Van Strien/International Rhino Foundation

Book Summary: Hope for Animals and Their World is really a call to action disguised as a book! A call to action in the form of an incredible collection of inspiring success stories – shining examples of dedicated people working tirelessly to help bring endangered species back from the very edge of extinction. Just a few of the imperiled species profiled in the book include the California condor, Prsewalski’s horse, Iberian lynx, golden lion tamarin, and the Sumatran rhino.

Why this book is important: Hope for Animals and Their World could not have come at a more critical moment. Time is running out for an unprecedented number of species, creatures that have no voice to speak up against the barrage of deadly threats we humans have set upon them. Thankfully, Dr. Goodall once again offers encouragement to each and every one of us: It’s not too late for us to take action – we can make a difference in this world.

Quotable moment:

It is this – this link between the human being and the other animals with whom we share Planet Earth, this connection we can establish with another life-form – that for many makes it possible to carry on. To carry on with work that can be so hard, carry on despite the frustrations and setbacks, and sometimes the outright hostility or ridicule of those who believe that to save any species from extinction is sentimental and a waste of money and resources

But they cannot do it alone, these Keepers of the Planet. To save Planet Earth, each of us who cares must become involved in protecting and restoring the wild places and the animals and plants that live there.

Where to purchase ‘Hope for Animals and Their World’

You can purchase Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink online at Amazon.com.

In a heartbreaking setback to Sumatran rhino conservation, the Cincinnati Zoo’s beloved Emi has died.

Emi the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) was the heart of the world’s only successful captive breeding program for the critically endangered species.

According to local news sources, world-famous 21-year-old Emi died September 5, after appearing less energetic for several weeks. The typical lifespan of a Sumatran rhino is 35 – 40 years.

Emi gave birth to a history-making three calves. Andalas, born in 2001, was released to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) in Way Kambas National Park, south Sumatra. Suci was born in 2004, and her most recent calf, Harapan, in April 2007.

The worldwide Sumatran rhino population is only about 275.

Image source: flickr.com/photos/walanbaker/ / CC BY 2.0

An initiative to transport lone Borneo rhinos to a secure central location – where they can interact with other rhinos – could mean hope for this extremely rare subspecies.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve located in Sabah, Malaysia is the last home of the Bornean rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), a distinct subspecies of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis). It is estimated that fewer than 50 Bornean rhinos are still surviving in Sabah. Borneo rhinos are said to be even smaller than Sumatran rhinos, with some standing only three feet tall at the shoulder. Both species are covered with bristly hair that rubs down as they mature and create “tunnels” by crashing through the rainforest.

Sadly, some of these rhinos are living alone in fragmented pockets of forest, cut off from other rhino populations, where they have no hope of meeting another of their kind – and the isolation of these animals could lead to their extinction.

In a recent article in the Star (Malaysia), Junaidi Payne of WWF and Borneo Rhinoceros Alliance (Bora) says that these rhinos are likely to die out completely unless there is some active intervention.

In the past, rhinos were threatened by poaching, loss of habitat and so on. But now they are mostly threatened by the simple fact that there just aren’t enough of them around in one place anymore. Tabin is the only place left in Malaysia where there is hope of saving the rhino because there are a few breeding individuals and we know the habitat is good because historically they were here.

An intervention to save Borneo rhinos

Fortunately, some human intervention has arrived: Plans have been approved to create the 4,500ha Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary (BRS) within Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Individual rhinos will be brought in from their fragmented locations in hopes that roaming free together in the sanctuary will entice them to breed.

The Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary (BRS) is new hope for these small rhinos. The plan is not to round up every wild rhino in Sabah, but rather to locate the isolated rhinos and transport them to a central location where they can roam and interact naturally with other rhinos in the sanctuary.

This will be a “hands-off” breeding program, in contrast to a failed captive breeding program in Malaysia in which tragically, most of the rhinos died. By translocating these rhinos to the BRS, they are given a chance to contribute to the survival of the species – something they certainly cannot do alone.

As part of the initiative, the sanctuary will be encircled by an electric fence – the first project of its kind to include a large fenced area in a tropical rainforest.

The rhino sanctuary’s first resident

The Borneo Rhino Sanctuary even has its first resident – Tam, a male rhino found in a palm oil plantation last year. Because Tam did not want to return to the forest on his own, WWF’s Payne suspects the rhino had previously been injured by a trap set by poachers.

Tam is currently living in a fenced 2,500ha area until the sanctuary is ready. He receives regular medical check-ups from volunteers in a makeshift paddock within his temporary home.

Once the BRS is ready, Tam will be moved. The sanctuary is expected to be open in year. Wildlife experts are planning to capture four or five additional rhinos over the next few years, and introduce them to the sanctuary. It is not expected that the rhinos will begin breeding immediately, and it could be ten years before the success of the project can be determined.

Borneo rhinos in the future

The ultimate goal of the BRS is to ensure the long-term survival of these rhinos. Payne points out that without a conservation “intervention”, the Borneo rhino will become extinct in our lifetime.

… we need to give them a lot more attention now or risk losing them forever.

The BRS is a joint initiative between the Sime Darby Foundation and the Sabah Government. The project is part of Sime’s Big 9 campaign to protect nine endangered Malaysian animals – the Sumatran rhino, orang utan, hornbill, sun bear, banteng (wild cattle), clouded leopard, pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey and the Malayan tiger, all of which (with the exception of the tiger) can be found in Tabin.

Here’s to the future success of the Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary!