Rhinoceros: an Endangered Species

I’m going to talk about the Rhinoceros, an endangered species. What I’m going to cover is the different species we can find, some facts about them, the reason they are endangered, and some possible ideas about how to protect this animal, and my conclusion.  We all recognize this huge animal in the zoos or in pictures. But how many of us know that they are an endangered species? There are five kinds of Rhinos nowadays: the Black Rhino, the Sumatran, The Indian, the Javan, and the White Rhino, which is the one that abounds in more numbers and is also the most popular of them. This last species is registered as vulnerable to being an endangered one too. The Rhinos are often located in Africa and in Southern Asia. They are herbivorous, which means that they are not interested in eating other animals. A fact that you should know is that they have very poor eyesight, but a very acute sense of hearing and smell. Their brain is very small, about 500g, which is something strange in mammals. Their skin is very thick, like armor, so other animals can’t hurt them easily.

When we think about this animal, we usually visualize his big horn. This is the reason they are endangered; people like to collect their horns because they are made of keratin. In China, they use the powder of their horns as an aphrodisiac or for medical purposes. In some countries of Africa, they use it as a handle for daggers or as some decorative object. In the past, people used to kill them just to remove their horns. Now, to prevent poaching in some areas, the Rhinos are just tranquilized and their horns are surgically removed.

The International Rhino Foundation is responsible for conserving these species. They work on the outside, protecting rhinos particularly threatened in their population. Also, they work in captivity areas, researching and providing long-term survival of all species. They already have made great strides in preventing further declines.

In addition to that, I think it is necessary that we shouldn’t use these animals’ horns for anything. We live in the 21st Century. We are very advanced right now in science. Why can’t people find an alternative to these medical treatments? It is as if we are going back 200 years. We need to protect these animals because we are running out of time before they disappear forever. We need to hurry to find a solution for these problems because maybe we are not used to hearing about this animal, but neither are we used to hearing about coral reefs, or elephants, or panda bears, etc. But they are part of this world and evolve just like we do. Also, they were here before us. Unfortunately, we are the ones that are ending their lives. It is not fair that we cause the extinction of animals that are part of the cycle of life, where all is in balance. But lately we don’t pay attention to that anymore. That’s a shame because they have the same rights to live in this world as we do.

We wouldn’t like the idea of our heads hanging on a wall as a trophy. Then why do some people try to show that with other animals? It doesn’t make any sense to me. We need to take care of the things that surround us, so we can live peacefully. There is a very popular quote that works very well for me: “Live and let Live.” We can use that also with animals, in a more literal sense, and specially for the Rhinos.