rhinos | Common News Update

Jul202020 by adminNo Comments

Assam flooding: Several rare rhinos die in India’s Kaziranga park

Science

More than 100 wild animals, including at least eight rare rhinos, have died in recent flooding at a national park in north-eastern India, officials say.The Kaziranga park in Assam state is home to the world's largest population of one-horned rhinos, which faced extinction at the turn of the century.But this year's monsoon rains have almost 85% of the park under water.The floods have killed more than 200 people and displaced millions in Assam, Nepal and Bangladesh.Kaziranga park, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, is home to at least 2,400 one-horned rhinos.Park officials told the Hindustan Times eight one-horned rhinos had drowned in the recent rains, while another died of natural causes last month.The park that shoots people...

Apr102020 by adminNo Comments

Bird companions help black rhinos avoid poachers

Science

April 9 (UPI) -- Red-billed oxpeckers often accompany black rhinos, picking insects off the mammal's back. In Swahili, the avian companions are called Askari wa kifaru, or "the rhino's guard." According to a new study, published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, their nickname is well-earned. Field observations suggest black rhinos with oxpeckers are better at avoiding human interactions. Scientists surmised the avian guards act like sentinels, using calls to alert their rhino partner to the presence of potential poachers. "Although black rhinos have large, rapier-like horns and a thick hide, they are as blind as a bat. If the conditions are right, a hunter could walk within five meters of one, as long as they are downwind," Roan Plotz, a lecturer and behavioral ecologist at Victo...

Aug242019 by adminNo Comments

Extinction: Last chance to save ‘rhinos of the oceans’

Science

Conservationists say a key wildlife summit could be the "last chance saloon" for saving sharks and rays pushed to extinction by the shark fin trade.About 100 million sharks are estimated to be killed each year for their fins and meat.On Sunday, countries will discuss giving more species of sharks and rays protection under wildlife trade rules.These include mako sharks and the little-known "rhino rays".Wedgefish and guitarfish are collectively known as "rhino rays", because of their elongated snouts. They are now the most endangered marine fish group, according to a recent scientific assessment. "With this new science just come out, fresh in everyone's minds a month ago, on these wedgefish and guitarfish, it's clearly last chance ...

Jul132018 by adminNo Comments

8 endangered black rhinos die in Kenya after relocation

Technology

Eight critically endangered black rhinos are dead in Kenya after wildlife workers moved them from the capital to a new national park, the government said Friday, calling the toll "unprecedented" in more than a decade of such transfers. Preliminary investigations point to salt poisoning as the rhinos tried to adapt to saltier water in their new home, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife said in a statement, describing how the animals likely became dehydrated and drank more salty water in a fatal cycle. The ministry suspended the ongoing move of rhinos and said the surviving ones in the new park were being closely monitored. The loss is "a complete disaster," said prominent Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu of WildlifeDirect. Conservationists in Africa have been working hard to protect ...