ADOPT AN ANIMAL

Provide help to an animal for as little as £3 a month, and make a connection that lasts.

SOME OF THE ANIMALS YOU CAN ADOPT

  • Adopt an baboon
  • Adopt an gorilla
  • adopt an orang-utan
  • Adopt an lion
  • adopt a snow leopard
  • adopt a tiger
  • Adopt an elephant
  • Adopt a giraffe
  • Adopt a rhino
  • Adopt a Meerkat
  • Adopt a panda
  • adopt a polar bear
  • Adopt a dolphin
  • Adopt a penguin
  • adopt a turtle

Rhino Sub-species

Rhinos are an icon throughout the world. Instantly recognisable with their horns they are the second largest land animals behind elephants. There are five known species and of these three are classed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.

The largest of the sub species is the White Rhinoceros as of 2005 there are two sub species. The first is the Southern White rhino, which numbers around 14,000 making them the most abundant species. However, the Northern White Rhino is thought to be extinct in the wild. Only six remain in captivity and in 2009 4 of these were transferred to a wildlife refuge in Kenya in a bid to save the subspecies. The southern white rhino stands as a tribute to conservation as in the early 20th century there were fewer than 50 left but after many years of hard work their numbers have recovered significantly.

The smallest rhino is also the one with the most fur. The Sumatran Rhino lives at high altitudes in Borneo and Sumatra. It is estimated that less than 300 individuals remain putting it firmly on the critically endangered list. Like the African species it has two horns and poaching is thought to be the biggest contributor to the decline of the species, as horns fetch huge amounts of money on the black market.

A similarly endangered sub species of rhino is the Black rhino, native to eastern and central Africa. Although referred to as “black” it is actually more of a grey/brown colour. For most of the 20th century the black rhino was the most abundant of all rhinos. In 1900 numbers were up around 100,000 but poaching and habitat destruction have cause a massive decline in numbers which are now estimated to be as low as 2,600 making the black rhino a critically endangered species.

The most endangered of all the rhinos and one of the rarest animals in the world is the Javan Rhino. As of 2007 there were less than 60 left anywhere in the world, a decline rooted in the 1930’s when the species was hunted almost to extinction. The Javan rhino is similar in appearance to the Indian Rhino, so much so that historically the two species have been mistaken for one another. They both have an armoured appearance with just one horn. The difference between them is that the Indian rhino is considered vulnerable while the Javan rhino is on the brink of extinction.