20. The Sumatran Rhino

Tune in to this episode of the Conservationists Assemble as we charge into the world of a rhino species that is small in size and small in population size but larger than life, with our expert guest and rhino fanatic, Stacy Strother.

Throughout the episode we acknowledge how the incredible breeding work of the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio was pivotal to the work taking place at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary and how zoos today can still contribute to Sumatran rhino conservation despite no zoos globally housing this species. 

Stacy then takes us on a journey through the history of the International Rhino Foundation, including their creation as the International Black Rhino Foundation in 1991 in an effort to combat the large scale decimation of Zimbabwe's Black Rhino population through poaching. Just two years later, upon the realisation that the world's five rhino species were in crisis, the International Black Rhino Foundation became the International Rhino Foundation.

Stacy closes out the episode with an emphatic message to our listeners, specifically to the amazing zookeeping community that both herself and the podcast recognise exist out there that they are in an incredible unique environment where they can make a difference, not just to rhinos but all the incredible species that zookeepers across the world have the opportunity to work with and educate about and even more so if they have endangered relatives who don't exist in zoos. All it takes is finding the right audience.