My AP Biology Thoughts  

Unit 8 Ecology 

EPISODE TITLE: South African Rhino Poaching

Welcome to My AP Biology Thoughts podcast, my name is Keenan Wallace and I am your host for this episode called Unit 8 Ecology-Threatened Rhinos in South Africa. Today we will be discussing South African Rhino Poaching and how it relates to the AP Biology Curriculum. 

Segment 1: Overview of Rhino Poaching

•  numbers poached rising in recent years:
• 13 Rhinos poached in 2007, peaked in 2015
•  1175 Rhinos killed in south africa in 2015 (more than 3 a day),
•  number poached has since declined with 394 killed in 2020
• Rhino population has decreased from 1 million in the 1800s to only 27,000 in the wild today.
• Rhinos are a keystone species: They play an integral role in their ecosystem and many other species in the ecosystem depend on their presence

Segment 2: Evidence that supports dangers of rhino poaching

•  Rhinos are so large that they actually Geo-form: change the land around them
• Rhinos often wallow in mud to keep cool and ward off insects. 
• This helps maintain waterholes
• When the rhinos get out they track the fertile, nutrient rich soil that accumulates in waterholes far and wide, distributing the nutrients. 
• Rhino dung supports other species and food chains
• Rhino dung fertilizes soil
• Dung beetles lay their eggs in rhino dung, which also supports species that eat the beetle larvae
• A number of bird species rely on Rhino dung for insects and seeds. 
• Rhinos support fly and tick species as well as animals that eat them, like terrapins (a kind of turtle) and oxpeckers (the iconic symbiotic relationship)
• Keep grass short, allowing plant species that can’t survive among long grass to thrive.

Segment 3: Connection to the Course

•  Without rhinos, all of these roles would be left unfilled and with its foundation gone the ecosystems would begin to collapse. (keystone species)
• When you hear about rhino conservation, this is why it matters. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of My AP Biology Thoughts. For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Music Credits:

• "Ice Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
• Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Sources: 

“Vanishing Rhinos - The Impact of Rhino Poaching on the South African Ecosystem. (n.d.). The Scientista Foundation.” The Scientista Foundation, http://www.scientistafoundation.com/lifestyle-blog/-vanishing-rhinos-the-impact-of-rhino-poaching-on-the-south-african-ecosystem. Accessed 1 Dec. 2021.

“Poaching Numbers | Conservation | Save the Rhino International.” Save The Rhino, https://www.facebook.com/savetherhinointernational/, https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/poaching-stats/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2021.

“Why Are Rhinos Important for Ecosystems? - Africa Geographic.” Africa Geographic, https://www.facebook.com/Africa.Geographic, 25 May 2020, https://africageographic.com/stories/why-are-rhinos-important-for-ecosystems/.