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    May 1 is Save the Rhino Day, 24 hours dedicated to protecting this interesting but severely endangered animal. Wildlife charities around the world are encouraging citizens to donate time and funds to efforts like Save the Rhino Trust. Do your part: learn why rhinoceroses need and deserve our help to stay alive.

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    HAIRY HISTORY 

    The ancient ancestor of the rhinoceros is the woolly rhino, a prehistoric creature that roamed Asia and Europe 350,000 years ago. Like modern-day rhinos, these furry foragers were herbivores that traveled in small groups. We're sure today's African rhinos are happy their forebears eventually ditched the fur coats.

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    ROYAL SUBJECT

    This noble beast has had quite a few fans over time, including France's King Louis XV and surrealist painter Salvador Dali. King Louis received a live rhino as a gift and kept it at the Palace of Versailles, while Dali drew inspiration from the animal, seeing its horn as a symbol of divine geometry.

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    PARDON MY POO

    Conservationists may have a strange way of moving rhinos, but the animals have an even weirder way of communicating with each other. Rhinos use their dung to communicate. The scent of a rhino's waste provides vital information regarding its author's age, sex, territory and fertility. In the rhino world, your private business is your public calling card.

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    HUNTED FOR HORNS

    One of the biggest threats to rhinos are poachers hungry for the animals' horns. Demand for rhino horns has recently skyrocketed due to myths in Asia that the horns contain astonishing healing powers, even though there is no proof to back up the claims. In fact, rhino horns contain no ivory; they are comprised only of keratin, the same material that makes up human nails and hair. Regardless, the horns' value remains five times that of pure gold. 

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    POACHING PROBLEM

    The booming poaching business often has led poachers to kill and de-horn rhinos in protected reserves. Game parks built to monitor rhino populations are becoming surefire hunting grounds for poachers. The problem has become so expansive that some rangers working inside game parks across Africa are suspected of killing the animals they were hired to protect.

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    AIR SAFETY

    The World Wildlife Foundation and several wildlife parks in Africa are working on ways to transport rhinos safely to secure areas out of poachers' grasps. The unusual solution they have found for moving the large mammal is by flying it upside down via helicopter. All parties involved ensure that this unique form of air travel is the easiest way for the rhino to change locations unharmed.

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    THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS

    Due to the relentless hunting of rhinoceroses, each of the five species of rhino are considered endangered, the majority critically so. The western black rhino, a subspecies of the black rhino, is believed to be already extinct. Meanwhile, researchers estimate that there are fewer than 50 Javan rhinos left in the wild, leading to a mass reproduction plan.

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    RAY OF RHINO HOPE

    Dedicated animal facilities across the globe are working to protect and restore the rhino population. The cutest success stories come from some zoos that are working to breed the endangered animal. One example is the Pittsburgh Zoo, which is expecting its first baby black rhino in 47 years.

    Even with these efforts, rhinos still need our help on Save the Rhino Day and beyond. Find out ways you can help protect this vanishing animal at International Rhino Foundation.

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