Zoo Dortmund will celebrate World Rhino Day on Sunday, September 27.
Dortmund is home to five Southern White Rhinos. Last year heralded the birth of Abebi, the first calf born at Zoo Dortmund. Visitors will enjoy behind the scenes tours, keeper talks, and an assortment of family activities.
Zoo Dvur Kralove will celebrate World Rhino Day on Saturday, September 26.
Actor Josef Dvorak will be guest of honor. Visitors may wish a safe journey to Eliska, the female black rhinoceros , which in the coming months will move to Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania. Guests will learn more about the Mkomazi reserve as well as black rhinos.
Team Rhino’s roster is global, and our plays are local. From a rookie-level retweet to a Major League donation, all members of Team Rhino are joining forces to compete against the greatest poaching crisis this century. And we play to win!
Sport the jersey. Cheer on rhinos by facing the crowd and showing your team spirit. Go #TeamRhino!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who celebrated World Rhino Day 2013! We look forward to another successful World Rhino Day in 2014. In the meantime, enjoy the World Rhino Day 2013 compilation video!
This year Save the Rhino plans to send 5 of our famous rhino costumes across the UK to take part in local events. We’ll also be holding our own event here in London.
We are looking for 5 enthusiastic volunteers and would like to hear your ideas. What would you do with a rhino costume for a day? For your chance to be involved with World Rhino Day, please visit our website at savetherhino.org and download our short application form. You can also get in touch with Katherine at katherine (at) savetherhino (dot) org for more information, or phone us on 020 7357 7474.
Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Kent, home to 15 (!) black rhinos is hosting a World Rhino Weekend, with lots of fun activities planned to ensure everyone learns something new about rhinos!
“The Changing Face of the Rhino” will be presented on September 18th at the Royal Geographical Society in London with Dr. William Fowlds, a South African safari veterinarian. Tickets can be purchased from rhinolecture.eventbrite.co.uk and cost £20 including a drinks reception from 6pm.
This event aims to raise awareness for the plight of the rhino through, and also to raise charitable funds to continue the work of, the educative curriculum of Voices of Conservation, along with supporting TUSK Trust and Born Free Foundation.
Celebrate the last day of Marwell Wildlife Go! Rhinos trail with a visit to Southampton to see the incredible rhino sculptures before their departure toMarwell Zooand subsequent auction. Download the free Go! Rhinos smartphone app or a trail map from gorhinos.co.uk.
Be sure to attend the Marwell Saving Species presentation at the Rhino enclosure at 4.15pm for a free raffle ticket to meet Kiri and Sula, their gorgeous white rhinos, and enter to win a face-to-face encounter with these gentle giants on the day. This prize is for up to four people!
Colchester Zoo will be supporting World Rhino Day, celebrating all five remaining rhino species and raising awareness about the trade in rhino horn! On Sunday 22 September, the Zoo will host a stall near the rhino enclosure with information on the current poaching crisis, the five remaining rhino species and information about rhinos at Colchester Zoo and on the UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve. You can help raise funds for the zoo’s chosen charity, Save the Rhino International, by purchasing rhino items from the stall, making rhino badges and masks and taking part in rhino-related activities.
Colchester Zoo’s rhino keepers are also offering a special opportunity for 50 people to meet Flossy the rhino! This will be a first come, first served event; with 2 groups of 25 visitors taking part at two times slots throughout the day. A requested minimum donation of £5 for adults and £3 for children is required for this special session, and tickets will be available at the stall (Please note, 10 – 15 year old children only are permitted to take part in this event and all children must be supervised by an adult). All proceeds will go towards Action for the Wild’s support of Save the Rhinos.
JoinKnowsley Safari Park on Sunday 22 September to celebrate World Rhino Day and get the know the largest of the 5 species of rhino – the white rhino!
The rhino team is devoting the day to giving guided rhino tours. The tours are guided by our rhino team and last approximately 30 minutes including getting to and back from the rhino reserve. Tickets are £5 per person and 100% of the money is going to rhino conservation. TOURS START at 11:30AM, FINAL TOUR at 3:30PM! Places are limited!
There are also rhino activities going on in the wild at art building including updates from the keepers from when they went to Zimbabwe to visit the Lowveld Rhino Trust in action. There will also be a collection of nail clippings donated by Knowsley staff and visitors to raise awareness of the myths surrounding the medicinal properties of Rhino horn in an attempt to change attitudes and beliefs (more details to follow!).
On September 22nd, 2012, the third annual World Rhino Day was celebrated, with over a dozen countries participating!
World Rhino Day brought NGOs, zoos, rhino sanctuaries, and concerned citizens across the globe together to raise awareness and funds for the five species of rhinoceros — all of which are under threat from the illegal rhino horn trade.
World Rhino Day was initiated by WWF in 2010 and has since become a global phenomenon. Here’s a look at some of the World Rhino Day 2012 success stories:
At the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia, Andatu celebrated his first World Rhino Day, along with his mom, Ratu, and resident rhinos Andalas (Andatu’s father), Rosa, and Bina.
All of the Sumatran rhinos enjoyed a special basket of treats, prepared by their keepers.
To mark World Rhino Day, Save the Rhino International in London held its very first wine tasting event! 60 people enjoyed a fascinating evening, with Neil from Linton Park Wines delivering an informative talk about the seven different wines he had brought for guests to taste.
At the event, the work of Save the Rhino was introduced and guests took part in a rhino myth-buster quiz to help raise awareness. The event was kindly hosted by Vivat Bacchus restaurant, London Bridge.
In Hanoi, Education for Nature-Vietnam joined CITES Vietnam, the US Embassy in Vietnam and other wildlife protection organizations, in a World Rhino Day ceremony. Hunting, illegal trade, and rhino horn consumption led to extinction of the Javan Rhino in Vietnam in 2010, and now Vietnam is one of the main markets contributing to the killing of rhinos elsewhere, especially in South Africa.
Within the framework of this event, ENV held a small wildlife trade exhibit with information boards and banners. The general message of the exhibit was to stop consumption and trade of rhino horn, as well as other wildlife.
In Harare, Zimbabwe, citizens gathered for musical entertainment and a parade, where they marched from Town House to Africa Union Square. Zimbabwe’s Minister of Environment addressed the crowd, saying that 2012 was special in that it was dedicated to the Year of the Rhino and should inspire co-operation for rhino conservation amongst countries, governments, private sector and individuals.
As in previous years, South Africa went all out for World Rhino Day, with multiple events organized by concerned citizens, businesses, and conservation groups. Acting Head of Communications at South African National Parks (SANParks), Paul Daphne, said, “World Rhino Day is an opportunity to highlight the efforts being made to fight the scourge of rhino poaching around the world and to debunk the myths and reduce the demand for rhino horn.”
Skydive for Rhinos is an African Conservation Trust (ACT) initiative with the objective of raising R10 Million for on-the-ground, verifiable Rhino conservation and anti-poaching efforts in South Africa.
Another popular event in South Africa was the Rhino Run.
The Rhino Run was a huge success, with all 5 runs going off well around South Africa on Saturday. We had complete weather extremes, from pouring rain in Gauteng, to light rain in Cape Town and PE and Durban, to blistering heat (32C in the shade) in Mpumalanga, but a great time was had by all. We had somewhere between around 1700 runners in total country wide.
Meanwhile in Namibia, Sue Wagner from Save the Rhino Trust reports that World Rhino Day was “Amazing!”
I have been blown away by the phenomenal support of local people and businesses. Close to 30 different businesses gave us gift vouchers and prizes for our event and many were also represented at the function. In short, I would say, a successful SRT event that raised immeasurable awareness on World Rhino Day as well as some significant funding.
Kids from three schools — The International School of Walvis Bay, Private School Swakopmund and Namib Primary — took to the streets of Swakop, wearing masks and carrying posters and, in just over two hours, raised close on to N$ 6000 (US $728)!
Rhino Travels and Rhino Media & Communication in Guwahati, Assam, India, hosted a thought provoking presentation on the conservation of Rhinoceros in the different parts of the world: Current Challenges in Conservation of Rhinos in Rhino Range Countries.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya hosted an entire “rhino week” and provided local residents a chance to get into the conservancy for free and see rhinos. On World Rhino Day, Ol Pejeta partnered with Laikipia Wildlife Forum to host a cycling with the rhino competition to raise awareness in Laikipia.
There was a huge turnout with over 100 participants cycling. Children also had a painting competition depicting rhinos and different messages.
Also in Kenya, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy took high school students from one of the Lewa sponsored schools on a game drive round the Conservancy, where they had the amazing opportunity to see a family of white rhinos lazing around by the roadside.
A rhino fact quiz was held, and the winner received a beautiful autographed coffee table book.
Nepal’s World Rhino Day was celebrated with grassroots coordination between the Mrigakunja Buffer Zone User Committee, Prakriti Pathsala Network Jhuwani Resource Center, and Save the Rhino Foundation Nepal.
Student drawing and essay competitions on rhino conservation were held, with “The Role of Students in Rhino Conservation” as the essay focus. In addition, an Educational Toolkit covering all five rhino species was distributed to participants. Local media coverage was extensive, and included Radio Chitwan, Beso Television, Chitwan Khabar, the Chitwan Post, the Pardarsi Daily, and the Kayakairan Daily.
At Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, NSW, Australia, funds were raised for the International Rhino Foundation from the “Jump for Rhinos!” at the Jumping Castle on Saturday, and from Rhino Trail keeper talks, the keeper cookie sales, from a behind-the-scenes tour given to the Dubbo Field Naturalists group, and a little bucket shaking at the visitor plaza.
Funds were also raised with Munch Mobile rhino cookie sales (“Munch for Rhinos!”), donation buckets at the gift shop and ticketing desk, and Zoofari tours and framed print sales.
Rhino Internet sponsored a fundraiser at the Phoenix Zoo in honor of World Rhino Day, and sold custom designed t-shirts — with all proceeds going to the rhinos.
The Rhino Internet team was onsite at the Phoenix Zoo with keepers, visiting the white rhino Half-Ear, and helping to raise awareness about rhinos.
Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas, held an awareness-raising event featuring keeper talks, hands on activities, and t-shirt sales to benefit rhino conservation.
Visitors also purchased raffle tickets to win a chance to meet Cameron Park Zoo’s resident rhinos, Babe and Jabba!
WWF, AWF, TRAFFIC and WildAid teamed up for an informative Google+ Hang Out on the Monday following World Rhino Day — here’s where you can view a video of the Rhino Hang Out on Google+.
In addition to the World Rhino Day events noted above:
Investigative journalist Julian Rademeyer announced the title of his upcoming book, and posted a sneak peek of the cover.
At Zoo Basel in Switzerland, a special information booth was set up to call attention to the urgent need to protect rhinoceroses. Zoo Basel uses a portion of proceeds from admissions to support an in situ project in India.
Federal Air placed a World Rhino Day badge on its website
Edinburgh Zoo held a number of special rhino activities for kids, including coloring, making a rhino mask, and being a “rhino ranger” to identify either Bertus or Samir, the Zoo’s greater one-horned rhinos.
Please join rhino supporters around the globe for World Rhino Day 2013! In the meantime, check out additional photos and events on the World Rhino Day Facebook page!
Continuing the battle
The battle to protect rhinos from rhino horn syndicates, wildlife traffickers, and corrupt elements continues. South Africa’s rhino death toll for 2012 reached 381 two weeks ago, with some sources claiming that the figure is now closer to 400.
Check out what people in Europe are doing for World Rhino Day! Join them if you can!
United Kingdom:
Save the Rhino International is holding a “World Wino Day” wine tasting event at Vivat Bacchus restaurant, London Bridge, from 5-7 PM on Saturday, 22 September.
Knowsley Safari Park is hosting “Blow Your Horn for Rhinos” — a family event to support “Save the Rhinos” that will include live music, food, cocktails, and chances to win prizes. The party will get started on Saturday, 1 September at 6 PM.
The Three Wine Men will be holding an awareness-raising events at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on 20 & 21 September. A portion of proceeds made on tickets will be donated to Save the Rhino International, when tickets are purchased using the code: 3WINERHINO.
Rhino Ark — a Kenya-based conservation organization — will be holding the first-ever “Rhino Safari Run” on World Rhino Day (22 September) at the Pippingford Park estate in East Sussex. The non-competitive 4×4 event will also be offering guided tours of the grounds and its wildlife to families with 4x4s.
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park will be making a fuss about some of its largest residents on Saturday to mark the official Rhino and Elephant Appreciation Day. A host of activities will be going on around the park such as tours of the elephant and rhino houses, a raffle to win prizes including a Keeper For The Day Experience. All proceeds raised will go towards Wildlife Alliance — a conservation organisation with close ties to The Aspinall Foundation.
Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland will be hosting several World Rhino Day activities on 22 September — including rhino arts and crafts, a “rhino wordsearch”, a rhino ranger game for kids, as well as education about the five rhino species and their plight. It will take place in the Rainforest Room of the Zoo’s Education Centre from 11 AM – 4 PM. Stay connected via Edinburgh Zoo’s Facebook page and Twitter account!
Netherlands:
Navasta Communications will be holding an “I Will Be Your Voice” Nyama Choma (Kenyan style BBQ) lunch on 9 September at 1 PM. The event will take place at 3Stones Kenyan Restaurant (The Hague) and funds raised will be donated to Chipembere Rhino Foundation.
Switzerland
At Zoo Basel in Switzerland, a special info stand calling attention to the urgent need to protect rhinoceroses will be set up and animal keepers will be near the rhinoceros enclosure to offer information from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm! Zoo Basel contributes a portion of its admissions to rhino conservation efforts in India.
Hosting your own World Rhino Day event? Click here to add it to the official World Rhino Day event map!