Blossom, a 1,000 pound rhino, is getting ready to celebrate her first birthday.
She was born and is being raised at Lion Country Safari.
Blossom and many of her friends at the animal park are examples of what World Wildlife Day is trying to call attention to.
"At the rate at which they are being poached for their horn, the species isn't going to last but another 30 years,” said Lion Country Safari General Curator Brian Dowling.
World Wildlife Day stresses that the future of wildlife is in our hands.
"So it is very critical that we get that message out, that we promote that conservation," Dowling said.
Captive breeding programs like the one at Lion Country Safari are key to survival of some species.
34 white rhinos have been born at Lion Country Safari and that's just one species.
"We have a lot of success breeding many of these endangered species. We do very well with the scimitar horned oryx; our rhino herd is very successful. We have 4-6 baby giraffes born here every year, and we are making sure we are breeding the animals that we should be breeding to help with that global population" Dowling said.
Some of the new animals stay, others are moved to a different zoo to breed.
There is hope that the work that goes on at Lion Country Safari leads to better education and conservation of our wildlife.
