The ‘War on Rhinos’ continues, and it is estimated that up to a thousand rangers and conservation personnel have so far died in a pitched battle where poachers seem to have the undeniable upper hand …
I am privileged to once again be a part of the Comanis Foundation#RhinoFacts Tour, with internationally-focused media visits scheduled for #KrugerNP and the Big Game Parks in #eSwathini over the next week. (I’ve attached some imagery from our previous Tour).
As part of this journey, we hope to highlight some of the burning issues around #RhinoConservation, and hopefully find common ground between the #ProTrade Faction, #sadec environmental policy makers, and traditional #conservation entities.
There are no easy answers here, but the more we get to know – and the wider we share – these issues, the closer we will hopefully come to some form of consensus.
Ultimately, the end goal for all parties concerned should be the survival of the remaining Rhinocerotidae Family genera – everybody agrees on that. Kudos to #Comanis for supporting this project – more information on this can be found at www.comanis.ch
BACKGROUND INFORMATION (Source Wikipedia)…
The family Rhinocerotidae consists of only four extant genera: Ceratotherium (White rhinoceros), Diceros (Black rhinoceros), Dicerorhinus (Sumatran rhinoceros), and Rhinoceros (Indian and Javan rhinoceros). The living species fall into three categories. The two African species, the white rhinoceros and the black rhinoceros, belong to the tribe Dicerotini, which originated in the middle Miocene, about 14.2 million years ago. The species diverged during the early Pliocene (about 5 million years ago). The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths – white rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing, whereas black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage. There are two living Rhinocerotini species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros, which diverged from one another about 10 million years ago. The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only surviving representative of the most primitive group, the Dicerorhinini, which emerged in the Miocene (about 20 million years ago).
Click here to view the pics