SOS Rhino Review
MAY 2005

Welcome to the SOS Rhino Review, a newsletter about rhinos from SOS Rhino. You'll find links to interesting articles here as well as a few surprises! We have provided some updates on our efforts to save rhinos all over the world. Let us know if you'd rather not receive this newsletter.

And now, let's go to the rhino news.

1. Feature Stories
2. World Rhino News
3. Donor Appreciation
4. Find It On Our Web Site
5. Trivia Questions
6. How You Can Help
7. Trivia Answers
8. About Us

Full Stories Are Available Via Web Links

1. Feature Stories

MONTHLY FIELD REPORT: MARCH 2005
The 4th to 6th of March is memorable for SOS Rhino. The Sabah Director of Fisheries, Mr. Rayner Stuel Galid and his senior officers made an official visit to Kg. Dagat. His entourage was received at the airport and stayed at SOS Rhino base camp at Tanjung Utik. On the 5th, Rayner and his officers had a dialogue with the Dagat folks. On hand to receive them were the Village Chief, Mr. Ajih Salleh, the Village Development and Security Committee members and all the villagers. After the speeches and questions & answers session, Rayner handed over 24 cast nets and confirmed the construction of a jetty. The Fisheries Department is also contemplating establishing a base camp in Dagat. For a fishing village, the presence of the Fisheries Department is long awaited.

2. World Rhino News

Hunt a rhino, save an ecosystem?
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Once on the verge of extinction, black rhinos in South Africa's national parks have made a spectacular comeback. Under the country's aggressive conservation programs, the mammal's population has grown by more than 50 percent in the past decade. But that success has brought a new challenge: how to control a population in limited conservation space.

Experts call for scientific management of Kaziranga
Guwahati, Apr 6 (PTI) Kaziranga National Park, celebrating its centenary this year, may be touted as a great conservation success story for the famed one-horned Rhino but ecologists urge scientific management of its biodiversity for its future existence.

3. Donor Appreciation

SOS RHINO wishes to acknowledge the following individuals, organizations, and foundations for their generous support of our programs. Their support comes in many forms: donation of their expertise and time, funds for specific programs and equipment, and donation of products. THANK YOU!

Click HERE to view the list of our donors!

4. Find It On Our Web Site

RHINO BREEDING CENTER AT SEPILOK
The rhino-breeding centre is part of the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok, Sabah, Malaysia. It is managed and maintained by the Sabah Wildlife Department (Jabatan Hidupan Liar). The rhinos in the breeding centre are a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino called "Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni". There may be fewer than 50 of this type of rhino left in the world.

5. Trivia Questions

1. TRUE OR FALSE? Rhinos have teeth.

2. Why do some rhinos have square lips while others have pointed lips?

3. What term is used to define a congregation (group) of rhinos?

7. Trivia Answers

1. TRUE. All rhinos, those from Asia as well as Africa, have teeth in the sides of their jaws, called premolars and molars. The Asian species of rhinoceros also show well-developed front teeth. In fact, the incisors of the Indian Rhinoceros are its main means of defense, much more dangerous than the horn on the nose.

2. The white rhinoceros in Africa is the species with the wide upper lip. It is the rhinoceros that spends much of its time grazing for which reason it has developed this wide lip to help in cutting off the sharp grass. It also has far more muscles in the neck area, which are necessary to lift the heavy head because it has to lower the head for grazing. The hindhead of the skull is much larger than in other rhinos to give an attachment for the muscles.

The black rhinoceros in Africa is a browser and has a prehensile upper lip to find and cut off the browse on shrubs and trees. It has a far smaller head because is does not need all the muscles for lowering the head.

3. A study on the African white rhinoceros, which is probably more social than other species, gave the following definitions: An "aggregation" is a congregation of individuals in the same area, but the animals each go their own way after some time. A "group" is an association of animals who try to stay in each other's proximity.

These groups remain intact for at least a few hours. Groupings in which the individuals were seen together for a period of a month or longer are called "stable associations" (like mother and child), while animals together for shorter periods are "temporary associations".

Many modern writers refer to a congregation of rhinoceroses as a "crash". This is sometimes found in crosswords or quizzes. "Herd" would not be zoologically correct because rhinos do not stay in one group for long, they are "temporary associations".

8. About Us

SOS Rhino is a non-profit, international foundation dedicated to preserving the five rhinoceros species in their natural habitats. Our conservation programs combine research, education, marketing and advocacy, all working collectively to achieve sustainable results.

Through diverse stakeholder support, SOS Rhino develops and funds rhino conservation and awareness programs appropriate to individual countries, providing these countries with the information and tools to build lasting rhino conservation.

It is our goal to secure a place for this ancient animal in tomorrow’s world.