Monday, December 09, 2019

Rhino rumblings

I missed World Rhino Day on September 22 this year.  I don't think much about rhinos, and I'm not sure why. Maybe they just don't have the grandeur of elephants. The other giants, the hippos, don't press either of my buttons (possible new species or endangered status), except for the intiguing possibility a small hippo lived on Madagascar into historical times. 
The Javan rhino has one population and 72 individuals, which is a terrible situation but at least, for the moment, a stable one. Four new calves spotted by camera trap in the last six months have perked up conservationists a bit, and the species is up from a count of 50 a decade ago. Conservationists are discussing moving a few to establish a second population outside Ujung Kulon National Park, although that's on hold right now.  The Javan used to live on the Asian mainland, but the last one, in Vietnam, died a lingering death in 2010 after being shot by a poacher.
The Sumatran rhino is in a similar state, with perhaps 80-in the world, nine of which are in captivity: captive breeding efforts haven't yielded any results yet.  
There are the two smallest and most primitive of rhinos, and the hairiest, with their hides encasing them like plates of clumsy armor. They are being sustained by extraordinary human effort, and their survival is not yet assured.  
The most famous rhino these days is the one in the new Star Wars series, The Mandalorian. It may lay eggs and have a terrible temper, but it's clearly a variation on Earth's extinct woolly rhinocerous. Coelodonta antiquitatis is probably most famous as the star of cave paintings. It got a boost toward extinction by, you guessed it, humans. Let's hope we don't have any more such extinctions.  

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