|
|
|
Evening Drink
 |
|
| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
This is a scanned slide.
This shot was taken at Lewa Downs in Kenya. Lewa Downs is a private game reserve (same idea as a national park, but private) run by the Craig family. It is to all intents and purposes a private park. It is renowned for rhino conservation, having numbers of both White and Black Rhino. I am not sure if the white are northern or southern but have assumed that they are the more common southern.
The Southern White Rhino was one of the first taxa (kind) of rhino to be at the brink of extinction in our life time. At the start of the 20th Century, there were perhaps only 50-200 Southern White Rhino surviving. Like other rhinos, the Southern White has recently been persecuted by poachers who sell its horn for medicinal or ornamental purposes in the Far East and Middle East. But, at the end of the 19th century, Southern White Rhinos were decimated by farmers and hunters, in South Africa, much as the American bison was in the United States. Thanks to the efforts of conservationists, researchers and concerned individuals (especially in South Africa) Southern White Rhinos were protected and have recovered to about 11,330. They are now the most abundant kind of rhino in the world. Their numbers are greater than all the other kinds (taxa) of rhino combined. However, poaching pressure is still intense and almost all Southern White Rhinos live in a single country ( I have also seen them in Zimbabwe, but that was in 1993) so we can't be complacent about their conservation.
The White Rhino, along with the roughly equal-sized Indian Rhino, is the largest species of land mammal after the elephant. As a species, the White Rhino is the least endangered of the living kinds of rhino. However, there are two distinct subspecies: They differ greatly in their current status: the Northern White Rhino and the Southern White Rhino.
The White Rhinoceros gets its name rom the Afrikaans word describing its mouth: weit, meaning "wide"; early English settlers in South Africa misinterpreted the "weit" for "white".
Scientific name: Ceratotherium simum -Ceratotherium: from the Greek cerato, meaning "horn" and therium, meaning "wild beast" , simum: from the Greek simus, meaning "flat nosed"
There are currently approximately 11,330 White Rhinos surviving. |
Adanac, Finland_in_Eton has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes. |
|
|
| Discussions |
| None | | You must be logged in to start a discussion. |
|
- Adanac
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1036 W: 1 N: 3967]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-n-g.gif)
(13346) - [2007-03-07 7:01]
-
Hi James,
Thanks for sharing this fantastic posting with us. The capture is well composed and has great detail. The note is excellent.
Rick
-
- trinko
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 610 W: 83 N: 324]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(4310) - [2007-03-08 22:55]
-
nice pose good focus and colors. interesting seeing a rhino drink
I really like the diagonal composition. Super POV, wonderful detail and rich colors. DOF works really well, too many would be tempted to get both beasties in focus.
Great shot of a magnificent creature, TFS.
Mish
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 161 W: 22 N: 227]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-s-g.gif)
(874)