Rhinos are one of the world’s most endangered species, not just due to habitat loss, but due to poachers illegally killing them, to sell their horns for thousands of dollars. Made from keratin, it’s useless for medicinal use (doctors say using it to cure cancer is like ‘chewing your own toenails’.
One amazing idea is boffins who have created ‘fake horns’ from donated toenails, to flood the market. This confuses, as no-one is going to pay for this, yet it has the same DNA so no-body can tell the difference.
The last male northern white rhino recently died, leaving just two females. There are hopes of using a surrogate other rhino to stop the species going extinct, but the situation is so serious, poachers are now shot dead, if they are found.
Removing horns is no good, as wild rhinos need them for foraging (and most poachers go undercover, so have no knowledge if a horn has been removed, until after a rhino is killed). Some poachers have even killed captive rhinos in zoos, it’s that bad.
In Yorkshire, a care home of ‘knitting nanas’ recently sent a homemade blanket to Hercules the baby rhino, expected to make a full recovery after a hyena attack. One of the knitters said ”Seeing Hercules is one of our blankets has made my day. He’s such a cute little fellow’.
Avoid Palm Oil
Just like for helping orangutans, one of the most helpful things we can do in England is to avoid palm oil (found in junk food and most bars of soap – labelled as ‘sodium palmate’). Find olive oil alternatives in indie health shops.
There is no such thing as ‘sustainable palm oil’ and its use is decimating the habitats of endangered creatures like Sumatran rhinos and tigers, and orangutans.
Organic Tees to Support Rhino Conservation
You can help by purchasing organic cotton tees and hoodies (made with green energy and sent in zero-waste packaging) from Saving Rhinos Fashion. This non-profit does amazing work to help rhinos, and profits help save these incredible creatures.
Drink Gin, Save Rhinos!
Urban Rhino Gin donates 10% of profits to saving baby rhinos. Distilled in the award-winning Henley Distillery, it’s made with UK-grown grain along with six botanicals: juniper, lemon peel, coriander seed, orris root, cassia bark and liquorice root. Avoid tonic waters (quinine) for pregnancy/nursing and affected medical conditions.
