Southern Africa contains the vast majority of the world’s remaining populations of both black and white rhinoceroses (80% and 92%, respectively).
Southern Africa contains the vast majority of the world’s remaining populations of both black and white rhinoceroses (80% and 92%, respectively). The region’s climate is changing rapidly as a result global warming. Traditional conservation efforts aimed at protecting rhinos have focused on poaching, but until now, there has been no analysis of the impact that climate change may have on the animals. A research team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently reported in the journal Biodiversity that, though the area will be affected by both higher temperatures and changing precipitation, the rhinos are more sensitive to rising temperatures, which will quickly increase above the animals’ acceptable maximum threshold. Managers in national parks should begin planning adaptations to manage the increased temperatures in the hopes of preserving a future for the rhinoceroses.
The African continent has seen its average monthly temperatures rise by .5 – 2 degrees Celsius over the past century, with up to another two degrees of warming projected for the next 100 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) high greenhouse gas emissions scenario. It is also well known that the changing climate will disrupt historical precipitation patterns—but which of these, temperature or rainfall, will have the most impact on a species, like white and black rhinos, that have long been the target of conservation efforts?
The question is especially important for rhinos because they don’t sweat, and instead cool themselves off by bathing and finding shade.
Read more at: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Both black and white rhinos, like this one at Kruger National Park, South Africa, are threatened by climate change. (Photo Credit: Sam Ferreira)
