Rhinoceros news, good and bad

This video is called WHITE RHINO – Species Spotlight.

From Wildlife Extra:

Two rhinos poached in Northern Kenya

Two carcasses were also found at Nakuru – Cause of death is unknown so far.

Lewa Conservancy and Solio Ranch both targeted by poachers

April 2012. Two rhinos have been poached in separate incidents over the last week and investigations are ongoing to determine circumstances of two other rhino deaths.

The first rhino killing occurred in Lewa Conservancy. The week-old carcass of a pregnant white rhino was discovered with its horn missing. Lewa Conservancy rangers together with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and police are investigating the incident.

Solio Ranch

The second case occurred in Solio Ranch in Laikipia County where a black rhino was killed and the horn taken as well. A joint KWS and General Service Unit (GSU) security team moved in when gunshots were heard to determine the circumstances of the shooting. A short while later, they stumbled on a fresh carcass of a known male rhino aged 12 years without its horn.

Also from Wildlife Extra:

Some good news for rhinos – Numbers in North East India on the up

Assam now contains more than 2500 rhinos.

Kaziranga rhino population increased by 250

April 2012. The latest rhinos census in India’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has recorded an increase of some 250 animals since the last census in 2009. The 2009 census found 2,048 rhinos in Kaziranga, and eight were subsequently translocated to Manas National Park.

The latest census, just concluded, found 2,290 rhinos.

With 2,290 rhinos in Kaziranga, Assam‘s rhino population is now just over 2,500 with Pabitora wildlife sanctuary containing 93 rhinos, Rajiv Gandhi National Park 100 rhinos and finally 22 in Manas National Park.

April 2012. Rhino conservationists were outraged following an alleged agreement made by five governments in Africa to grind rhino horn into a powder and sell it in pharmacies. However, despite this story appearing in several places around the world, it appears that there is no truth behind it: here.

South Africa: Limitations Imposed On Trophy Rhino Horns: here.

High tech has been brought in to hammer rhino poachers… Composed and gently spoken, veterinarian and genetics specialist, Dr Cindy Harper, tells the extraordinary story of RhODIS: South Africa’s two-year-old rhino DNA index system that was first believed to be an impossible project, but is now playing a major role in prosecuting rhino poachers through forensic DNA testing: here.

Kenya: June 2012. Najin is one of the four northern white rhinos (there are only 8 known to exist anywhere in the world) on the Ol Pejeta Conservancy moved from the Czech Republic in 2009 in hopes that returning to Africa would induce normal behaviour and encourage breeding. As predicted, Najin has finally come on oestrus and has been mated twice in the past few months! Here.

The absence of elephants and rhinoceroses reduces biodiversity in tropical forest; here.

5 June, 2012 — Increasing alarm for the fate of the two rarest rhinoceros species, and growing concern over the increased illegal hunting of rhinos and demand for rhino horn affecting all five species, has prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia to declare 5 June 2012 as the start of the International Year of the Rhino. President Yudhoyono took this step at the request of conservation organisations, because the future survival of both the Javan and Sumatran rhinos depends on effective conservation action in Indonesia: here.

July 2012. In an effort to get to grips with the issue of permits for rhino trophy hunts being issued to large numbers of unlikely people from Asia, (More than 50% of permits to hunt rhinos recently have been issued to Vietnamese nationals, including, apparently, a number of alleged prostitutes and dancers) the South African Government has amended the standards for the marking of rhinoceros and rhinoceros horn and for the hunting of rhinoceros for trophy hunting purposes to strengthen requirements relating to hunting: here.

June 2012. The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) is pleased to announce the birth of a bouncing baby male Sumatran rhino born to Ratu, a 12-year-old Sumatran rhino living at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park. The calf was born on June 23 at 12:46 a.m. with no complications, attended by Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary veterinarians, Ratu’s keepers and advisors from the Cincinnati Zoo and Taronga Conservation Society Australia: here.

Asia’s few remaining Javan and Sumatran rhinos have been identified by conservationists as some of the most threatened animals in the world: here.

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