I’m not sure how I got added to a mailing list for annual “State of the Rhino” reports but I’m not sad about it

In case you were wondering:

Covid led to an initial decrease in poaching, but it might be on the rise again.

There are only 80 Sumatran rhinos left. A new-ish project is bringing those with baby-making potential into “large semi-natural breeding and research facilities.”

Last year there were 68 Javan rhinos and this year there are 72, which is slightly promising. Researchers are figuring out how to expand habitat as the population (hopefully) keeps increasing. They’re focusing on cutting down the Arenga palm to make new wildlife corridors.

But also, Javan rhinos hang out on certain beaches so conservationists are worried about illegal lobster trappers sneaking over to them.

Scientists in Germany created two viable white rhino embryos with artificial insemination!

There have been no documented cases of human-to-rhino COVID transmission.

It seems like a big challenge moving forward will be that pandemic-related job losses in rhino areas will lead more people into poaching and the illegal wildlife trade out of poverty and desperation.

It also seems (to me) like this is a clear example of how conservation efforts should be community-led and managed, because otherwise environmentalists are coming in from elsewhere in the world and telling people how and when they can use their own natural resources.

So an initial community-focused conservation effort might look like going to those communities and saying, hey, what is it you get from hunting rhinos/lions/etc? Is it money? Safety? Are there other ways you'd rather get that? How can we help? Do you WANT our help?

Rule of thumb: Help people to help animals. If you're motivated to help animals but not people--well, you might want to do some soul-searching.

Anyway, I strong feelings about conservation and its racist past and the way its present is still often very racist but that racism is coded in paternalism.

I'm not specifically talking about State of the Rhino--I have no reason to think that they're not doing great and important work, and the press release seemed super thoughtful. And a lot of conservationists ARE actively working against this stuff. Just to be clear!

And if you're ever charged by a rhino, just stay totally still because they mostly see movement, and if you're frozen they won't be able to find you.