Issue link: https://owlkids.uberflip.com/i/1012376
Incredible! 18 OWL September 2018 CONSULTANT: MARIA FRANKE, TORONTO ZOO PHOTOS: DREAMSTIME AND GETTY IMAGES ILLUSTRATIONS: PAULA BECKER Greater one- horned rhino: 3,500 In the early 1900s, about 500,000 rhinos roamed Asia and Africa. Today, those numbers are much smaller. Just how many rhinos are left? Southern white rhino: 25,000 WHAT ARE THE NUMBERS? RHINOCEROS OPERATION WHY NO RHINOS? One of the best ways to save an animal is first to understand why it is in trouble. For a rhino, the main reason is poaching: its horn is very valuable on illegal markets for use in traditional Asian medicine. A single rhino horn can be worth around $400,000 CDN! Even though there are laws against killing these animals, poachers have taken the lives of tens of thousands of rhinos over the last 100 years. Habitat loss is also a major problem. As wild land in Africa and Asia is cleared for human settlements, farming, and logging, the species slowly loses more and more of its natural home. RESCUE This past spring, we lost the world's last male northern white rhinoceros. Sadly, rhino species everywhere are in trouble. Let's spend September 22—World Rhino Day—learning more about rhino conservation around the globe. BY JOHN CROSSINGHAM These white rhinos are staying safe in a protected national park in Kenya, Africa. Black rhino: 5,400