Johannesburg Zoo celebrates #WorldRhinoDay with inquisitive minds

The Johannesburg Zoo celebrated World Rhino Day today, September 22 with approximately 900 learners from all over Johannesburg.

The event started at 09:00 and ended at 13:00.

According to a statement, the event was aimed at teaching the next generation about the plight, vulnerability and conservation of the species.

Focussing on the JHB zoo’s role in the fight to keep the endangered species from becoming extinct.

The theme for this year’s programme was “Keep the Five Alive”.

ALSO READ: Joburg Zoo celebrates our giant land animal, the rhino ahead of World Rhino Day

“According to research by the World Wildlife Fund, only 27 000 rhinos remain in the wild.  At the beginning of the 20^th century, half a million rhinos freely roamed Africa and Asia and by the 1970s their number plunged to only 70 000. Three of the rhino species, namely the black, Javan and Sumatran are critically endangered.,” read a statement released by the Zoo.

The Zoo said that there are currently five surviving species of rhinoceros. The African white rhino and the black rhino and three Asian rhinos, namely the greater one-horned, Sumatran and Javan rhinos.

It is estimated that there are now less than 70 Javan rhinos and about only 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild, a startling diminishing number with several species recently declared extinct.

ALSO READ: Attention on black rhino population on World Rhino Day

The Johannesburg Zoo currently houses two species of rhino, three white rhinos and a black rhino.

“Zimbi, our 28-year-old white female and oldest of the lot, shares the enclosure with the newly acquired and adorable rhinos Thaba, a male and Zelda, a female, both just under a year old, brought in from the Thabazimbi sanctuary in Limpopo province. Shaka, an 8-year-old black rhino is the king of his own enclosure,” read the statement.

Visit the Johannesburg Zoo’s social media platforms for more information.

ALSO READ: Learners say NO to rhino poaching at Joburg Zoo