Rhinoceros Endangerment

A detailed Summary of Rhinoceros Endangerment

There are five types of rhinoceros on Earth. They are the Indian, Sumatran, Javan, Black, and White rhinos. All five species of rhinos are very close to extinction. The rhino population made a rapid decrease in the 1970's when half of the world's rhinos disappeared. There are an estimated 10,500 rhinos left worldwide. Their endangerment was cause by several reasons.

The Black Rhinoceros population had decreased 90 percent since 1970. There were approximately 65,000 black rhinos then and there are about 2,500 now. Unlike most large mammals, habitat loss has not been a significant factor in the decline of these rhinos. Rhino horns have always been thought to have great powers. In 5th century BC, a rhino horn was believed capable of rendering some poisons harmless. In other times and places, rhino horns were hung in a room where a woman was giving birth, believing it would ease her labor pains. Asians used rhino horns in traditional medicines for a thousand years without threatening the species' power. Most people think tha

t the decline of rhinos is because of poaching. This isn't true. The cause was the soaring price of oil. Young men in the Arab country of Yemen covet rhino horns for elaborately carved dagger handles, symbols of wealth and status in that country. Until the 1970's, few men could afford these prized dagger handles. But Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries are rich in oil, and prices for this "Black Gold" climbed dramatically in that decade due to a worldwide oil shortage. The result was a seven-fold increase in the per capita income in Yemen, a rise in wealth that made rhino horn dagger handles within the reach of almost everyone. This small country, with a population of 6 million at the time, suddenly became the world's largest importer of rhino horns.

Hopefully, these efforts will help the rhino population grow back to the numbers they were in the 1960's. These animals have been roaming the Earth for a very lone time and if we protect them instead of kill them, they will be roaming for many years to come. There will be many challenges in the futu

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Approximate Word count = 720
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science

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Rhinoceros Endangerment

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