Rhinos have roamed the earth for over 50 million years with their prehistoric ancestors having lived long before the first elephants, but today, they stand at the brink of extinction. World Rhino Day, celebrated on September 22, serves as a reminder of the ongoing threat to rhinos and the urgent need for action. While poaching numbers have decreased in recent years, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and intensified anti-poaching measures, the rhino population remains vulnerable.
“In the 1960s, Africa was home to 65,000 black rhinos. By 2022, that number had plummeted to just 6,487, leading to their classification as Critically Endangered. While White rhinos have fared slightly better, with numbers recovering from less than 50 in the 1960s to around 17,000 by the end of 2022, both black and white rhinos remain under constant threat due to poaching and habitat loss,” says Kate Church, Founder of African Wildlife Vets.
South Africa, which holds nearly 80% of the world’s rhino population, has seen over 8,000 rhinos poached since 2008, primarily for their horns, which are highly sought after in Asia for their supposed medicinal properties. While poaching numbers have recently declined due to intensified anti-poaching efforts and temporary relief from the Covid-19 lockdown, the battle for survival continues.
As keystone species, their presence is not only important to the ecosystems they inhabit but essential for the survival of a multitude of other species and the health of the environment. What would happen if these majestic creatures were to disappear completely? The answer is both troubling and far-reaching.
“Rhinos aren’t just majestic creatures who need to be protected to ensure their preservation for future generations, they are also vital to maintaining the health of their ecosystems. Their absence would trigger a domino effect, impacting a vast array of species and threatening the balance of the environment. Without rhinos, we are not just losing a species; we are compromising the very fabric of life in these ecosystems,” says Church.
A world without our natural landscapers
The loss of rhinos would have a devastating and far-reaching effect on the ecosystems they inhabit. Just as elephants have been professed as the world’s ecosystem engineers, carving out the land as they move through it, so too are rhinos the natural landscapers of the environment.
Not only does their grazing behaviour help to maintain open grasslands by preventing the overgrowth of vegetation, which in turn supports a wide array of other species, according to research from Stellenbosch University, by wallowing in mud they help to create natural waterholes and keep existing waterholes open. Their dung, of which they deposit more than 20 kilograms a day, both fertilises the soil and provides the foundation for complex food chains. Rhinos also play a key role in sustaining other species through the smaller parasites that they host on or within their bodies.
Without rhinos, grasslands would become overgrown, reducing the habitat available for species that rely on open areas or short grass lawns for survival, such as wildebeest and birds like larks and pipits. The subsequent reduced biodiversity would also affect larger predators that depend on these smaller species for food, leading to a cascade of negative impacts throughout the food chain. Furthermore, the loss of rhinos would also negatively impact species that depend on the smaller ectoparasites that rhinos carry for sustenance – like the oxpecker, which are so dependent on rhinos they can actually be used to track them.
The absence of rhinos would also disrupt soil health and water cycles as soil compaction would increase, reducing water infiltration and affecting the availability of water for plants and animals. This would contribute to further desertification of the land, diminishing the overall resilience of the ecosystem against climate change and extreme weather events.
The economic impact of their loss
Beyond their ecological importance, rhinos contribute to local economies, particularly through eco-tourism. Countries like South Africa, Namibia, and Kenya depend heavily on wildlife tourism, with rhinos being a major draw for international visitors.
“If rhinos were to disappear, the loss would not only be felt in the natural world but in human communities that rely on tourism for their livelihoods. This would lead to job losses, reduced income for local conservation programs, and diminished funding for wildlife protection,” notes Dalit Shekel, CEO of Relate Bracelets.
The impact would also extend to local human communities that depend on the ecosystem services provided by healthy landscapes, including agriculture, tourism, and natural resource management. With the decline in biodiversity and the destabilisation of the environment, livelihoods that depend on eco-tourism such as safari businesses, wildlife guides, and conservation efforts would be severely affected.
Thankfully, conservation efforts to protect rhinos are in full force, though the road to recovery remains challenging. Conservation organisations like the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), alongside non-profits like Relate Bracelets, have been instrumental in the fight to protect rhinos. Through anti-poaching initiatives, the use of conservation canines, and collaboration with local communities, these efforts have managed to slow the decline in rhino populations.
Over the past decade, the sale of over 25,000 Relate Rhino Bracelets through Tourvest Destination Retail alone has contributed R360,000 to EWT’s rhino conservation efforts, supporting projects that expand safe spaces, enhance anti-poaching strategies, and ensure genetic diversity.
As Dalit Shekel aptly puts it: “The loss of even one rhino profoundly impacts ecosystems, destabilising the environment and threatening the balance of their population. By supporting rhino conservation efforts, we are helping to protect an entire ecosystem and every Relate EWT Rhino bracelet sold directly supports the survival of these incredible animals.”