Did you know that rhinos use their poop to communicate important information1? The distinctive scent in their feces contains chemical signals that convey their sex, age, reproductive status, and territorial boundaries. When one rhino encounters these scent markings, it can learn crucial details about the other rhino, helping it to assess potential mates or rivals and avoid unnecessary conflicts.

In addition, rhinos also use vocalizations, body language, and physical interactions to communicate with each other. Grunts, snorts, and trumpeting vocalizations serve various social purposes, including mating displays, warning signals, and expressions of distress. Physical interactions, such as headbutting and body leaning, also help rhinos establish dominance, hierarchies, and social bonds within their community.

Rhinos have one of the longest gestation periods in mammals. They give birth to their calf after 15 to 16 months. The reason? This extended period is likely because they carry a much larger baby that requires more time and energy to develop. A newborn rhino calf can weigh between 88 to 140 pounds. Typically, rhino babies stay with their mothers for up to three years.

Their tenacity allows them to see decades, living an average of 40 to 50 years. This is even true in harsh conditions where these sturdy creatures face intense heat, droughts, and fluctuating food supply. Evolution has gifted them with adaptable digestive systems, letting them make do with dry grass and shrubs during lean times.

Then there are our captive rhinos. Here, they find themselves tucked away from danger, living under the vigilant eyes of caretakers. In zoos and sanctuaries, rhinos live even longer, reaching up to 60 years. Regular meals, clean water, and timely medical intervention are pivotal in extending their lifespan. Yet, while their days may be longer, it's crucial to remember that the safety of captivity can never substitute the vibrancy and diversity of life in the wild.

Did you know that African rhinos have a unique relationship with oxpeckers? These birds, sometimes called "tick birds" or "cleaner birds," are helpful companions to rhinos by providing grooming services. They eat ticks, parasites, and insects that infest rhino skin.

Additionally, oxpeckers serve as guards for rhinos, warning them of danger with their sounds since rhinos have poor eyesight. In exchange for their services, rhinos offer oxpeckers a reliable food source and a safe place to perch4.

Three subspecies of modern rhinos have tragically become extinct due to different threats.

Western Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes): It was declared extinct in 2011 by IUCN. The primary reason for its extinction was rampant poaching for its valuable horn. Loss of habitat due to human encroachment and conflict with humans also contributed to its decline.
Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni): The last male of this subspecies died in 2018, leaving only two surviving females, making it functionally extinct. Poaching for their horns decimated their population.
Vietnamese Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) became extinct in 2011. The primary cause of its extinction was also poaching for its rhino horn, driven by the demand for traditional medicine and illegal wildlife trade. This subspecies was restricted to the Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam, making it one of the world's rarest and most critically endangered mammals.

In the early 1900s, there were approximately 500,000 rhinos found in Africa and Asia. However, by 1970, the rhino numbers dropped to 70,000. Unfortunately, today there are only around 27,000 remaining rhinos in the wild. Rhino poaching remains their most significant threat. Poachers target their valuable horns, which are highly sought-after trophies in the illegal wildlife trade and traditional Asian medicine markets.

Poachers relentlessly hunt and kill rhinos, pushing several rhino species to extinction. To make matters worse, the increasing human populations also contribute to habitat loss for these animals. Climate change is intensifying drought and affecting vegetation, further compounding the challenges rhinos face.

IUCN lists the three species of rhino—black, Javan, and Sumatran—as critically endangered species. The white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) is listed as near threatened, with an estimated population of around 18,000. Despite being listed as vulnerable, the Greater One-Horned Rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) has one of Asia's most successful conservation stories. Thanks to the conservation efforts of Indian and Nepalese authorities, their population has significantly increased.

Conservation efforts to protect rhinos include anti-poaching measures, habitat protection, and community engagement. Well-trained rangers with advanced technology apprehend poachers and dismantle trafficking networks. Translocation, population management, and reducing demand for rhino products are also crucial.

Organizations like the International Rhino Foundation and Save the Rhino International, alongside governments and communities in countries with rhino populations, are actively involved in rhino conservation.

Be part of the solution by simply spreading these rhinoceros facts.

If monoculture is not ideal, why is it the most common agricultural practice in the world today? All the primary reasons for monocultural farming revolve around maximizing profits. 

If a farmer plants a single crop on the entire farm, there's more space available for that crop, making them a major supplier. Also, they can run the whole business using a single farming system: the same seed, pest control, weed control, and machinery. That helps farmers save considerable amounts of money and effort.

Popular crops grown in monoculture plantations include corn, wheat, rice, sugar cane, soybeans, and oil palm trees. Monoculture crops are usually essential sources of food, fiber, and other commercially important materials. 

Monoculture has helped to increase food and fiber production. The increase in grain production has helped reduce the number of malnourished people even as the population keeps rising.

Effects of monoculture on the environment

Monoculture has immediately noticeable advantages, but it also has adverse effects that are slow but destructive. Such effects include environmental degradation and risks to human health.

Let's consider some consequences of monoculture. 

Lack of biodiversity

Natural ecosystems consist of diverse wildlife communities that effectively sustain one another. Because of that diversity, essential ecosystem services like biological control of pests and diseases, carbon sequestration, pollination, etc., occur.

Monoculture is essentially a threat to biodiversity. Farmers remove all crops except the crop of choice. Consequently, they also force out animal species dependent on those removed plants by extermination, starvation, or lack of habitat.

Many native animal and plant species, some critical to the environment, become extinct because of monoculture. Agricultural expansion already threatens the natural environment, and monocropping makes it even scarier.

Planting the same crop year after year on the same piece of land strains soil resources. 

Different crops demand more soil nutrients while adding other nutrients. For example, legumes use more phosphorus and potassium than nitrogen. Soybean monoculture will result in excess nitrogen in the soil and less of other nutrients. Such imbalances mess with soil health.

Various bacteria and microorganisms replenish the soil and keep it fertile. Different microbes mean many kinds of nutrients and soil health services. Research has established that plant diversity influences soil health and the type of microbial community in an area2. With monocropping, the variety of microbes significantly decreases.

Nutrient pollution 

Since monoculture depletes soil nutrients, farmers must maximize production by using chemical fertilizers. However, there are severe environmental costs associated with using artificial fertilizers. Chemicals from fertilizers enter rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs through rainfall runoff or erosion, and they can also seep into groundwater. 

Oversaturation of soil nutrients in aquatic habitats can cause harmful algae blooms, depleting the water's oxygen. Swimming in or accidentally swallowing water contaminated by such algae can cause serious health issues. Soil nitrate can also find its way into our drinking water. Water with high enough nitrates can be fatal to infants.

Excess fertilizer use also contributes to climate change. Nitrogen-based chemical fertilizers produce nitrogen oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas with 265 times more warming power than carbon dioxide3.

Pests and diseases more easily destroy monoculture crops as they lack the resistance a diverse plant and animal population would have provided. Those destructive agents stay in monocultural fields longer because they find them a perfect home. 

Farmers who practice monoculture agriculture tend to use pesticides  and herbicides excessively. Some parasites even resist the pesticides used against them, passing on the immunity to their offspring, so farmers use even more potent pesticides.

Pesticides, insecticides, rodents, and herbicides contain toxic chemicals harmful to humans and wildlife. These chemicals contaminate the soil and groundwater, enter water bodies, and become air pollutants. 

Weak ecosystems

Agricultural ecosystems typically lack the resilience that undisturbed environments show in the face of biological and geological challenges. Monoculture, especially, creates fragile ecosystems.

For example, natural environments have biocontrol agents that control plant diseases and pests. Monoculture does not allow for diverse species to serve as control agents. Therefore, one pathogen can wipe out acres of monoculture farms in a blink.

Furthermore, monoculture fields cannot withstand weather events like fires, floods, and erosion due to a lack of diversity in root length and canopy. One type of root also means water uptake occurs at one level in the ground. In cases of severe drought, deep roots will require more irrigation, straining water resources. 

Nutrition and health 

There are over 350,000 known plant species, of which around 7,000 to 30,000 are considered edible and have been used for food and agriculture. Yet, only about 255 plants currently make up the bulk of the human diet worldwide1. We lack food diversity because monoculture prioritizes the production of certain crops over others based on profitability.

Over the last century, we have lost more than three-quarters of the genetic diversity in crops. Because monoculture has restricted us to a few options, we may be missing out on fantastic health and nutritional benefits.

Another concern monoculture raises is the effect of crop genetic modification. Despite bans on GMO foods, we have modified many of the crops we consume today for hardiness, higher yield, and easier processing. Both corn and soybeans are popular GMO crops.

Economical effects of monoculture

Here are some economic disadvantages of monocropping:

Monoculture farming may push small local farmers into obscurity in favor of big corporations that can afford more land and complex machinery. These companies produce in larger quantities and ship their products worldwide. And since monoculture can be relatively cheaper than other methods, they can sell quite at meager prices, pushing small farmers off the market.

Market shocks

Monoculture farmers typically focus on a single product and supply distant markets. There are many risks involved in doing business that way.

Monoculture farms have little chance of survival, like a drought or pest attacks, if something goes wrong. A farmer could lose their entire harvest. Lost or destroyed cargo also presents a problem. Its high-risk nature can lead to sudden scarcity and economic hardships for farmers and their customers.

Food insecurity 

Monoculture is dangerous to pollinators because it lacks crop diversity and is chemically intensive. Pollinators may become sick and die as they migrate through monoculture fields. In addition, pollinators with only one food source suffer from nutrient deficiencies and weakened immune systems due to poor diets.

The declining pollinator population is a global concern because it directly affects crop yields. Fewer pollinators equals lower food production. Big agriculture corporations can usually afford artificial pollination, but what about small-scale farmers?