Three That Are Gone Forever

A hideous beast, armored and horned.


Aggressive and near-sighted and highly dangerous.


If it's charging you, and it very well might, you'll want to say your prayers.


Not everyone's favorite animal, for sure.


But what if it's gone?  Forever?  Would you care?


Here's a tiny portion of what the planet Earth lost in 2011.




Three of the five species of rhinoceros, gone or almost gone:

In fact, over 90% of all rhinos in the world have been exterminated. 

The Northern Sumatran rhino?  Extinct.

And the Western Black Rhino? Also extinct.

In Indonesia, there may be about 30 Javan rhinos left...but their chance for survival is as small as their horns.

Why? 


Some Asians believe rhino horn cures cancer, so killing rhinos for their horns is highly profitable. 


A single kilogram (35 oz) of horn can fetch $50,000, making it one of top ten most valuable materials on the planet.


So one Black rhino horn might get you close to $150,000.  But wait,  Black rhinos have two horns...  


If you do the math, you can see why rhinos are doomed.

Cutting off rhino horns humanely, however, could save the rhino. A young rhino's horn grows back in three years, potentially creating a legal, humane, and renewable resource of rhino horn for the asian and middle eastern markets.


Rhino farms...perhaps the only salvation for these big animals.

So how can you help? Check out these organizations:

• Save the Rhino
• Saving Rhinos
• ReturnAfrica

And, of course, never buy anything made with rhino horn.   


And just so you can say you saw one before it was gone forever, below is a video of the rarest big mammals on earth: Javan rhinos caught on hidden camera deep in the jungles of Java.

Check out this article from Freakonomics:  Why Are Rhino Horns Twice as Valuable as Gold?