The white rhino is the largest species of rhinos. It has a wide mouth and is known to be sociable. Its eyesight is not very good though. For these reasons, poachers (偷猎者) have found it easier to hunt the white rhino for its horns. There are now serious concerns that the white rhino may soon become extinct.
In the large national parks in Africa where white rhinos live, it is very hard to protect them. The rhino horn these days is more expensive than gold, so poachers are very determined to hunt them. It is said that about three rhinos are killed by poachers every day. If this continues they will be extinct with in the next ten years.
Three years ago, an organization in Adelaide, Australia, began planning The Australian Rhino Project. Its purpose is to create what they call the insurance population. The idea is to create a 120 acre park in Australia where white rhinos from Africa can be kept and protected. They can also breed so over time their numbers will grow. If anything happens to the white rhinos in Africa, they can be replaced with the rhinos in Australia.
It sounds like a good idea, but it's expensive! White rhinos first have to be taken to Australia. Each one weights about 3,000 kilos and the cost of flying them on the 13-hour flight is US $70,000 per rhino! To make sure that the selected rhinos are healthy, they will have to be kept in quarantine before they leave Africa and when they arrive in Australia. This too, is expensive. Some people have said that the money would be better spent on education people in Africa to stop poaching rhinos.
As long as poachers continue to kill rhinos and people want to buy rhino horns, it's probably a wise decision to help protect some of the species in Australia. It would be a tragedy if these huge animals disappeared for ever.
