EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Black Rhino Charge

Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), Family Rhinocerotidae
Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Explanation:  Time to charge into the New Year!  

And leading the charge ... is the critically endangered black rhinoceros of Africa.

There are approximately as many rhinos in the world as there are polar bears -- about 25,000 or less, of each.  But less than 5,000 of these rhinos are black rhinos -- a distinct species (also called the hooked-lip rhinoceros).  

Their conservation and restoration is an ongoing fight against poaching and habitat degradation and loss.  

Here is one of the numerous black rhinoceroses of the world ...
but only in captivity.  This one is sequestered in the Oregon Zoo
in Portland, Oregon. 

Conservation of the species is a key issue for parks of Africa.
Here, a black rhino is penned while being rehabilitated for a severe
wound, likely acquired during an altercation with another rhino
for territory or a mate.  This is the rhino conservation program
in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park of South Africa.

The charging black rhino, shown in the main photo at top, 
was actually doing a mock charge (thank goodness, as it could
have greatly damaged our field vehicle).  
This photo also demonstrates the specific epithet "bicornis"
in the black rhino's species name -- two horns.

This sign marks the establishment of the Rhino Post
within Serengeti National Park of Tanzania,
and commemorates the memory of the ultimate
conservationist Michael Grzimek.

May the black rhinoceros rebound from its persecution
and once again freely roam the veldts, savannas, and
parklands of its former range. 
Photo from Masai Mara, Kenya.