World Rhino Day 2023: Date, history, significance, and more to know

The annual observance of September 22 as World Rhino Day is an international effort to call attention to the situation of the rhinoceros and promote preservation efforts. This commemorative day is an opportunity to call attention to the threats, rhinos face and the critical need for conservation efforts to keep them from becoming extinct.

History

In 1990, an issue with the rhinoceros first emerged in Africa. By 2010, it had reached crisis proportions on a global level, and voices of alarm were being heard. Only around 30,000 rhinos were still living at the time, so the situation didn’t go unnoticed for long.

World Wildlife Fund – South Africa declared that day to be World Rhino Day to bring attention to the plight of rhinos and the need to take action to save them.

Lisa Jane Campbell expressed her want to see at least five kinds of rhinos living on the globe in a letter to another rhino enthusiast named Rhishja in 2011. As a result, September 22nd has been internationally recognised as World Rhino Day.

Significance

On this day, conservation groups unite to draw attention to the predicament of rhinos in the wild and the measures that may be taken to prevent their extinction. They discuss how to safeguard rhino populations throughout the globe.

Some Other Facts

• The great Indian rhinoceros, or one-horned rhinoceros, is an endangered species that can be found naturally only in India and its neighbouring countries. The Indo-Gangetic Plain, which stretches from northern India to southern Nepal, is the major home of this magnificent animal.

  

• The larger one-horned rhino population in India was estimated at 3,262 in the International Rhino Foundation’s State of Rhino Report 2022, with the largest number found in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park at 2,613.

  

• Rhinoceros can be seen in numerous of India’s amazing national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Kaziranga National Park in Assam is one of the most well-known. The high concentration of rhinos in this park earned it recognition as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

  

• Assam’s Orang National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Manas National Park, Dibru Saikhowa National Park, and West Bengal’s Jaldapara and Gorumara National Parks are other excellent spots to see rhinos in India. The Asian rhinoceros can also be found in Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh.