ENDANGERED rhinos at home in West Oxfordshire will this week help families learn about what can be done to ensure their survival elsewhere in the world.

Rhino Week started at the Cotswold Wildlife Park on Saturday, with the aim of raising awareness about the African animals, which are threatened with extinction.

Staff at the park have been hosting talks on rhinos to highlight its work with Tusk Trust, an organisation set up to halt the decline of the impressive looking creatures.

Families can attend the park and see the rhinos, take part in activities and learn more about conservation work and what is being done to tackle poaching.

Managing director of Cotswold Wildlife Park Reggie Heyworth said: “ Rhinos throughout Africa are under huge pressure from poachers with over 1,000 of these magnificent animals being killed in 2014 alone.

“Tusk Trust is supporting protection efforts in the field, and tackling the demand from Asia, so progress can be made, but it’s a real battle to save rhinos in the wild now.”

The Burford park currently has five rhinos, one adult male, two females and two calves.

Mr Heyworth said the breeding programme was going to plan and that the week would give people the chance to learn more about the challenges rhinos face around the world .

But despite hard work by the park and wildlife charities across the globe. Mr Heyworth said that poaching in Africa was still a major problem.

He added: “The Tusk Trust and other NGOs as well as the African governments have tried to protect the rhino for so long but the incentive to poach rhinos is incredibly high because of the value of the horns .”

Rhino week will give families the chance to guess the weight of the rhino poo. The person who has the closest answer will be able to meet a rhino at the end of the event.

There will also be daily rhino talks about conservation in the wild.

Mr Heyworth said the main aim of the week was to inform people while they enjoy the whole park experience.

The rhino awareness event runs until Sunday, August 23.