September 22 is #WorldRhinoDay.

I was following the hashtag “#Iam4Rhinos” this morning and I saw that WWF tweeted that 20,400 is the approximate number of white rhino remaining in the world. IN THE WORLD.

The white rhino species is in peril. Since 2012,  1 to 2 rhinos have been killed by poachers per day. This is unsustainable. If the poaching remains the same or becomes even more aggressive, then I may very well see the extinction of white rhinos in my lifetime.

Why are white rhinos so threatened? There are two main reasons. One is the rhino horn itself — It’s used in medicine, or made into jewelry or other products. Rhino horn’s supposed healing properties have never been proven. There is simply no reason to continue to poach rhinos for their “medicinal” properties. Moreover, even if rhino horn is an aphrodisiac, there are existing alternatives which makes poaching rhinos unnecessary. Losing an entire species for the sake of human benefit is unacceptable.

Regarding the use of rhino horn as daggers, jewelry, or other products — rhino horns belong to rhinos and no one else. Animals should not be killed for human vanity.

The other reason why rhinos are in peril is environmental destruction caused by humans. When we harvest for food, paper, palm oil, etc, we are destroying habitats.

Of course, it is not just the white rhinos who are in danger. ALL five species of rhino are currently threatened in some way.

How can you help? Please spread the word by tweeting and sharing posts, articles, and photos about the plight of rhinos.  Start now and keep it up on World Rhino Day! Remember to hashtag your tweets and posts with #iam4rhinos and #worldrhinoday.

Always refuse to buy products made of rhino horn. Please educate the people around you that rhino horn should not be used as medicine and that animals are not ours to be made into products. And when you buy products that contain ingredients like palm oil, always check to see if it’s sustainably harvested (although the “sustainability” of harvesting palm oil is a whole separate issue)/.

There are also events happening around the world and you can see the list here. Just want to say that I don’t approve of zoos, and it looks like a few zoos are doing events for World Rhino Day. It is up to you to decide if the zoo events are worthwhile.