Welcome to the Wild Rhino Info Centre! If you want to help Rhino Ranger protect rhinos, you are going to need some knowledge. You will be able to find everything you need to know and more on this page. There are fun facts, downloadable articles and information to power you all the way to Africa. Show Vietnam what heroes are made of!
Rhinoceros are a group of 5 surviving species of odd-toed hoofed animals (ungulates) in the family Rhinocerotidae They are characterised by its size, large horn and a thick protective skin They are herbivores (eat leafy plants) The species is classified as Critically...read more
The white rhino is actually grey The black rhino has a hooked lip The Indian rhino has a single horn The Javan rhino also has a single horn but is smaller than the Indian rhino The Sumatran rhino is the smallest of the rhino...read more
How many species: two (2) subspecies: the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) and the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni). Numbers: There are around 20 000 of the southern subspecies left. Northern subspecies was critically...read more
How many species: There were 4 subspecies, now there are 3: South-central (Diceros bicornis minor) most common, live in southern Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, northern and eastern South Africa South-western (Diceros bicornis bicornis) from the savannas of Namibia,...read more
Rhinos are placid plant eaters (herbivores). Because their eye sight isn’t very good, they cannot see further than about 15 meters, making them vulnerable. For this reason they feel threatened very easily and will charge at something that is a threat to them. If they...read more
What is rhino horn made of? The horns consist of clumped hair or keratin, the same type of protein that makes up your hair and fingernails. Rhinos use their horns for: defending territories, defending calves from other rhinos and predators, maternal care (including...read more
Rhino horn is believed to have medicinal value and its use as an ingredient in medicine began in China several thousand years ago, and later spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam. It has been proven that they do not have any healing properties. Not one. Using your own...read more
In 1976 trading in rhino horn was banned under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which 175 countries are signatories, including South Africa and those involved in illegal trading. But the trade simply moved to the black market....read more
IMPORTANT RHINO FACTS
Rhinos are not a threat to humans. They only become aggressive when they need to protect themselves.
Rhinos have been part of our world for millennia. If there are no more rhino in the wild, it could have devastating effects on the delicate balance of natural biodiversity – ecosystems that humans also rely on to survive on this earth.
Rhino horn is made of keratin – the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails in most animals including humans – and does not have any medicinal or spiritual healing properties. It cannot cure cancer, doesn’t reduce the effects of a hangover, or any other affliction, and it is an entirely hollow status symbol.
The use of rhino horn products means you are supporting the killing of an already endangered animal.
The rhino horn is not removed safely and painlessly from farmed rhinos. In order to steal rhino horn, poachers have to shoot rhino in the wild. The horns are then mercilessly hacked off, while the rhino are sometimes still alive. The rhino often die through massive trauma and bleeding – their last minutes filled with fear and confusion.
Many of the rhino that are poached are females with young calves. These calves are either killed themselves even though they don’t even have a horn yet, or are left orphaned in the bush. If not found quickly enough they die of hunger, or are killed by predators.