• New research finds climate change threatens black and white African rhinos by making their current habitats hotter, drier and less hospitable.
• Rhinos, unable to sweat, rely on shade, water and food sources that are becoming scarcer due to rising temperatures and arid landscapes.
• The study reveals that hotter periods will also likely force rhinos into areas with more humans, raising the risk of conflicts and compounding threats like poaching.
• Experts say strong global climate change mitigation efforts paired with on-the-ground adaptation tactics, such as shade-tree planting, corridor creation and misting stations, would give rhinos a fighting chance.

New research is ringing alarm bells about how climate change may impact one of Africa’s most iconic and vulnerable animals: the rhinoceros.

“Climate change has the potential of wiping out all of them in the blink of an eye,” says Hlelowenkhosi Mamba, an Eswatini native and Fulbright scholar.

Read more: news.mongabay.com

Photo: news.mongabay.com