via Youtube
Other than at the zoo, there aren’t many options for Americans to come into contact with a rhino. It’s also becoming increasingly rarer to come into contact with them in their native countries. Black rhino populations, like other rhino species, have fallen drastically since 1970. Savetherhino.org estimates that in 1970, there were around 70,000 black rhinos in Africa, but now there are only around 5,000.
Recent droughts in South Africa have forced some rhinos to get themselves into trouble looking for a drink of water, much like the rhino in the video below, who got itself stuck in the middle of a mud pit. Last year, we shared a video of a different equipment operator saving a small deer that also got stuck in the mud. That deer was lucky a piece of heavy machinery was nearby too.
Even the enormous and powerful rhino could not free itself from the heavy mud, which shows just how dangerous and heavy mud and dirt on a typical construction job site can be. Slope those trenches, otherwise you may not be as lucky as this rhino was to survive.
It seems that large animals really don’t like being around construction equipment, though. Similar to this bear that was saved from an underground cesspit, the rhino tried to attack the loader as it was being saved.
Video below shared on Youtube by Caters Clips:
On Tuesday morning, February 23, the Syracuse Fire Department responded to a call about a collapsed crane on a construction site near the university. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.