Rhinos

Rhinos, the living unicorns, well-known ill-tempered preachers, escapers of inescapable cages, the... you know what, just like the rhinoceros itself, let's make this intro a bit more blunt. Rhinos have a certain look to them. They are far and away some of the most unique mammals in terms of appearance, and with their huge horns, bulky frames, and attitude to run at whatever they hear, they truly seem like they are from another time. That's because, for the most part, they are. The rhinoceros, meaning nose horn, comes from the family rhinoceratidae, one of the earliest groups of large mammals to permeate the globe, with the rhinoceratidae beginning to evolve roughly 50 million years ago. Strangely enough, many of these rhinoceros ancestors didn't exactly stick to the label. Most early rhinoceratids had no horns whatsoever, many instead resembling horses than the tank-like animals you and I might recognize. One group, named Aminodontidae, seemed to have got the body plan down, but actually at least one species shows evidence that these animals behaved more similar to a hippopotamus, wallowing in shallow bodies of water. Other members probably looked more like a tapir, a species of pig-like, shrunk animals from the Americas. The species Paraceratherium lacked horns, but made up for it in sheer size. These behemoths were some of the largest land mammals ever, reaching about 5 meters tall and 50 to 20 metric tons in weight. Later during the ice age, a distant relative of modern rhinos, the Elasmotherium, did have a horn, although whether you would count this on its nose is up for debate. It was also gigantic, with a shoulder height of 2.5 meters and roughly 4.5 meters long, it would have rivaled the mammoths of its time in terms of size. Adding on to its appearance was a truly massive horn, which might have grown as large as a man. Another interesting fact was Elasmotherium had particularly long legs for a rhino, suggesting this giant was in fact a galloper. But now a great deal of the rhinoceratidae is extinct. Only 5 remaining species, scattered across Africa and South Asia, and for once actually possessing nose horns, live in our modern world. The 5 extant species of rhino, although maybe not as glamorous as their prehistoric cousins, are still sights to behold. The smallest species weighs at least 500 kilos, while the largest species can easily reach over 2,000, sometimes 3,000 kilograms. The only animals bigger than the largest rhinoceros species are elephants. The horns are also impressive, large ones measuring about a meter and a half on certain species. Just a heads up, some nerds might point out to you a rhino's horn isn't actually a horn, it's in fact made of keratin, the same stuff fingernails and hair is made out of, condensed into one big structure. But really, let them be charged by a rhino and ask them what has just impaled their body. Speaking of charging, yes, a rhino's charge is very dangerous, not only due to their size, but their speed. Even though bulky tanks, a rhino can attain speeds of anywhere between 40 to 50 kilometers per hour. They are also surprisingly agile, and can make impressively sharp turns while charging. And although nearsighted, they have surprisingly good senses of hearing and smell, so they might not see that you're not a threat, yet they will certainly hear or smell you, you loud stinky human. But don't worry too much, most rhinos, except these ones, will try to avoid conflict if they can. Only testosterone filled males, or females with calves, will get overly aggressive with humans. Really, the best synopsis of rhino behavior is that they want to be left alone. Many are solitary creatures, who roam a territory and mark the borders of it with excrement. Their behavior and looks have given rhinos, certainly at minimum, a level of reverence in cultures around the world. In Buddhist text, the rhinoceros are a symbol of solitude and stoicism. In Bantu cultures, they are symbols of strength and leadership. For hundreds of years, they have been included in artwork, coins, and even the ancient propane tank. Now onto the individual species. Firstly, let's start with the African species, which is probably what comes to mind when talking about rhinos. They are divided into two species, white rhinos and black rhinos. And black or white, I don't see a difference. I look past one skin color, to look at their soul, to see their dreams and strengths. So to me, these rhinos look exactly the same. And they probably do to you too, because both are actually grey. Black rhinos got their name because supposedly they roll in black mud. White rhino is actually a misnomer. Supposedly, white is a mistranslation of the Afrikaans word vaid, which means wide. Wide is in reference to their lip shape, which is square and broad, unlike a black rhino's which has hooked lips. See, that's the real way to tell these two animals apart, not their coloration. The black rhino uses its hooked lip to eat branches or leaky plants in more foliaged areas, while white rhinos will use their square lips for grazing on open grasslands. The two species also physically differ in size, with the white rhino being the larger of the two, and the largest of all rhinos. Besides physical appearance, another way to tell the species apart is behavior. White rhinos are the only truly social rhino species. Females will congregate in crashes of around 10 or so individuals, with male bulls still being solitary creatures. As I stated earlier, white rhinos are more pleasant than you might expect, and will avoid a fight in most situations. This cannot be said for the black rhino. Black rhinos can run at speeds of 55 kilometers per hour, the fastest of any rhinoceros, and as stated before, actually do charge unprovoked. Supposedly there's cases of them charging at trees and termite mounds. Black rhinos also love fighting each other, with 50% of males and 30% of females dying from combat-related injuries, the highest rate of any mammal. This has given black rhinoceros a well deserved reputation as hyper-aggressive animals which are to be avoided. The other three species are all located in Asia. Some might not even know there's rhinos in Asia, as the African ones steal most of the spotlight. But the three species, the Indian Sumatran and Javan, are still interesting creatures. For instance, not only is the Sumatran rhinoceros the smallest of all the species, but it is also hairy, covered in a light coat of red-brown fuzz. The other two species, the Javan and Indian rhinoceros, are likewise the only rhino species who have just one horn, making them the only actual unicorns. These two are, in my opinion, also the coolest of all the rhinoceros species. The Indian species, known as the Great One-Horned Rhinoceros, are the second largest of any rhinoceros species, only slightly behind the white rhino. They are also the second largest Asian animal, only behind the Asian elephant. Although all rhinos have tough, thick skin, these rhinos stand out for having thick pads of hide segmented by softer, more flexible skin in order to allow movement, which makes their skin act and look like a suit of natural armor. But weirdest of all, Indian and Javan rhinos don't fight with their horns, but instead, their teeth. You heard that right. They have long, fang-like incisors, which males use to fight others for mates. Alright, here's the depressing part of the video. Rhinos are probably about as well-known for their distinct appearance as they are for their vulnerability in the wild. Over the past century, their population has decreased dramatically. Just look at this map, where the outline represents each species' original extent, and those few sparse dots are now what's left. The Javan rhinoceros' territory is by far the most dramatic change, as the remaining 60 or so individuals left alive are in one small protected area on the tip of Java. The largest reason for these animals' decreased numbers, especially the African species, is of course because of poaching. Rhinohorn is believed to have medicinal purposes in certain Asian countries, and wealthy individuals in Thailand, China, and especially Vietnam will pay incredible amounts of money, up to 300,000 US dollars for just one horn. This means a poor African man could make more money than he sees in years from just one rhino hunt, so many desperate enough take the jobs of poachers. With such a demand for horns, rhinos every year fall closer to extinction. One subspecies of white rhino, the northern white rhino, has just two females individuals left in the wild, and is all but extinct. Numerous solutions have been proposed to save rhinos, including lowering the poverty of Africa, selling synthetic horn on a legalized market, training more rangers and making them more prepared to deal with poachers, and educating the Asian users. All of these solutions are long-term and cost time, and unfortunately we just might not have enough time for these until it's too late. Other more immediate solutions have also been proposed. One is just to strip the rhino of what makes it such a target. Dehorning the creature seems like an effective strategy, but rhinos still need their horn for protection and foraging. Also, a poacher might just harvest the remaining stump of the horn to not go empty-handed, or just kill the rhino out of spite. Another is to poison the rhino's horn from human consumption, as well as discolor it to make sure poachers know it's poisonous. Even though this solution allows the rhino to live with the horn, poachers still might kill out of spite, and it's not completely clear if the rhinos are immune to the poison given. Increased surveillance is also an option. Tons of money have been dumped into things like heart monitors, cameras in the horns, drones that follow the rhino around, and that's good and all, but that isn't actually stopping poaching. The rhino could still be dead by the time any personnel got to it. What I think is is embodied in the simple sentence, Of course, breeding the animals safely in captivity is being done, but there is another foundation aimed at moving rhinos to Australia. The Australian wilderness is pretty similar to the African bush, and much safer, but this is also just a crazy expensive, crazy ambitious, and really just crazy idea, and most of these solutions aren't even accounting for Asian rhinos, as the African species hog most of the spotlight in funding, while Asian rhinos face other problems such as loss of habitat. To get to the point, a real solution is probably a combination of many solutions that the government and foundations will have to really strive for if they don't want to see the extinction of the rhinoceros. Anti-poaching isn't a lost cause, and in certain situations there has been a rebound in rhino populations after policies were put in place. These animals are too valuable and magnificent to lose, so I will also put links to places where people can donate to save these creatures. After their millions of years on this planet, do we really want to be the ones who kill off the last few rhinoceros? Thanks for watching. The charities I've included are the International Rhino Foundation, a highly acclaimed and transparent charity who have raised a ton of money for rhinos around the world. As well, I have also included a link to Wildlife Asia, which focuses on helping animal populations specifically in Asia, including the three Asian rhino species. Also included is the Australian Rhino Project, the people who want to move rhinos to the outback, just in case you want send them some money for their particular solution. As always, thanks for the videos and pictures I used to create this video, and thank you for watching. See ya!