Save The Rhino Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about Rhinoceros

To trace the origins of the Rhinoceros, we must travel back in time several millennia, or approximately 56 million years. During this time, the first progenitors of modern rhinos roamed the earth.

Save the Rhino Day, observed worldwide on May 1, is a day dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the rhino in the world and highlighting methods to aid this magnificent animal. This day is especially significant in light of the current calamitous statistics: every 22 hours, on average, a rhino is poached somewhere in the world. On this day, animal rights organisations, non-profit organisations, sanctuaries, animal activists, and other concerned groups provide opportunities to encourage more rhino conservation efforts from individuals around the globe.

The background of Save The Rhino Day

To trace the origins of the Rhinoceros, we must travel back in time several millennia, or approximately 56 million years. During this time, the first progenitors of modern rhinos roamed the earth. They possessed a horse-like physique and lacked antlers. Old rhino bones discovered during this time period in North America demonstrate a progressive transition from a horse-like structure to one more similar to that of the modern rhino. During this time period, scientists believe that three distinct species may have been the progenitors of modern rhinos. One of these was the ‘trotting rhino,’ which had been modified for speed.

Another was aquatic and resembled the hippopotamus of today. Approximately 25 million years ago, the last, most direct progenitors of the modern rhinoceros appeared with multiple subspecies and families. The woolly rhinoceros was one of the largest subspecies, weighing nearly four times the average African elephant and sporting antlers measuring one metre in length. From Siberia to the British Isles, this species inhabited a large region. These herbivores coexisted with woolly mammoths and have been discovered fossilised in ice and in cave paintings from that time period.

Initially, these rhinoceros were confined to Asia, but around 25 million years ago, they expanded their range. Over time, these rhinoceros ancestors roamed the continents, predominantly inhabiting Eurasia (a combination of Europe and Asia) and North America. However, American rhinoceroses became extinct between 5.4 and 2.4 million years ago.

In numerous legends from Burma, India, and Malaysia, rhinoceroses are depicted as fire-stamping heroes. According to these tales, whenever a forest fire was started, rhinoceros would appear and extinguish it. This story is so ubiquitous that it was featured in the 1980 South African film “The Gods Must Be Crazy.”

Unfortunately, human activity has caused the decline of these once-abundant species. The global rhino population has been drastically reduced by hunting, poaching, and habitat degradation. In many regions of Asia, rhinoceros horns are an integral part of traditional medicine, with people believing they possess mystic powers. Since 2007, there has been a sharp increase in poaching and illicit trade of rhino horns, to the point where many subspecies of rhinos have been declared extinct and the entire rhino population is listed as “endangered.”

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5 Interesting Facts About Rhinoceros

rhinoceros make amusing noises, such as snorting, sneezing-like sounds, and even honking, and use their excrement to’speak’ to other rhinoceros.

Rhino eyesight is notoriously poor, to the point that a rhino wouldn’t be able to detect a motionless animal 100 feet away, even in an open area.

This rhino is not truly white; English explorers mistook the Afrikaans word ‘wyd,’ which refers to the animal’s enormous girth, for ‘white’ and the name stuck.

The protein keratin, which is also present in human hair and nails, constitutes the vast majority of rhino horns.

Signs in museums, such as the National Museum of Scotland, inform visitors that the displayed rhinoceros horn is a replica because the original has been taken.