BACK FROM THE BRINK
Rebuilding rhino populations in India
A SECOND CHANCE FOR RHINOS
How can this second chance for rhinos be a second chance for us all?
Targeted by poachers for their horns which fetch lucrative sums on the black market, rhino species around the globe are threatened with extinction. Yet the comeback of the greater one-horned rhino populations in India offers hope that we can protect wildlife and their habitats and combat trafficking before it’s too late.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
International Rhino Foundation
A Woodland Park Zoo Conservation Partner
Woodland Park Zoo partners with the International Rhino Foundation, an organization founded in 1993 in response to the escalating crisis facing all five rhino species. The International Rhino Foundation’s efforts have led to a 17-fold increase in the global population of the greater one-horned rhino in just 30 years.
GOOD NEWS FOR RHINOS
Recovering from the Brink
The population of greater one-horned rhinos was reduced to less than 200 a century ago from hunting and habitat loss. Thanks to strict protection, the total population is more than 3,550 today.
Expanding Populations
Roughly 70% of the entire greater one-horned rhino population is found in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, India. To help build up the global population, efforts are now being made to translocate rhinos to other parks that are now well-protected. Since April of 2008, 18 greater one-horned rhinos have been translocated to Assam’s Manas National Park. Thirteen calves have been born in the park since then, including one in October 2017. Two more rhinos are expected to be translocated to Manas National Park in 2019.
Photo courtesy of International Rhino Foundation
Promising a Future
As this new generation of rhinos takes hold in Manas, the local community is committed to a sustainable future together. Through education programs supported by International Rhino Foundation, the schoolkids of Manas make a daily oath for conservation, committing to protect their forests and wildlife.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Stop Traffic Here in Washington
Wildlife is trafficked right here in Washington state. You can help stop the local illegal trade. Answer these lifestyle questions to generate your personalized conservation action tip.
MORE WAYS TO HELP