Helping Rhinos Regain
Ground:
Act Wild for Rhinos!

Rhinos are charismatic mega-herbivores that play key roles in their ecosystems. Eating plants and dispersing their seeds promotes the healthy growth of vegetation and helps to maintain the savannas and forests in Africa and Asia.

Despite their significance, strength and tenacity, rhinos are losing ground. Habitat loss and poaching for their horns threaten their survival. According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), all five living species—Javan, Sumatran, Indian, black, and white rhinos—are threatened with extinction. Fewer than 18,000 remain in the wild.

How can rhinos be saved? One of the most successful strategies to date has been to create Rhino Protection Units (RPU) and employ local people as guards. RPUs patrol national parks to discourage and arrest poachers. Rhino poaching has been eliminated, or significantly reduced, in areas they patrol.

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has designated rhinos as one of its four Signature conservation programs. In addition to partnering with the International Rhino Foundation to support RPUs, the Zoo is a leader in captive rhino research and breeding. The Zoo participates in Species Survival Programs (SSP) coordinated by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums for the Sumatran, black and Indian rhinos. Each SSP strives to maintain a healthy, self-sustaining captive population as a safeguard against extinction, as well as provides biological information that may be useful to conservation in the wild.

Scientific breakthroughs at the Zoo’s Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) led to the first birth in 2001 of a Sumatran rhino bred in captivity in over a century, with repeated success in 2004. This summer the Zoo celebrates the announcement that their famous female rhino, Emi, is once again expecting. With just 300 Sumatran rhinos left, the captive breeding program is essential.
The Zoo is also a leader in black rhino reproduction. CREW scientists have revealed some interesting findings in their studies of rhino immune cell function that could provide some insight into disease susceptibility in black rhinos.

To improve the genetic diversity of captive Indian rhinos, CREW scientists are developing an artificial insemination technique. This is a daunting task, but tremendous progress has been achieved.

These are just a few of the Zoo efforts to ensure a long and healthy existence for these magnificent animals. The Zoo can’t save rhinos on its own, and invites all members of the greater Cincinnati community to join the cause.