African Rhinoceros:
A report has stated that Rhino poaching rates in Africa declined to 2.3% in 2021 from 3.9% in 2018.
- At least 2,707 rhinos were poached in Africa between 2018 and 2021, including critically endangered black rhino and near threatened white rhino.
- The report was compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Species Survival Commission (SSC), African and Asian Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) and TRAFFIC.
- African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) gathered information from thirteen rhino range countries:
- Botswana, Chad, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Findings of the Report:
- Rhinoceros poaching rates in Africa have declined from a peak of 5.3% of the total population in 2015 to 2.3% in 2021.
- South Africa accounted for 90% of all reported cases, predominantly affecting white rhinos in Kruger National Park.
- South Africa lost 394 rhinos to poaching in 2020, while Kenya didn’t record any poaching that year.
- The total estimate of rhinos in Africa was 22,137 at the end of 2021.
- There has been an increase in poaching in private properties.
- A total of 451 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2021: 327 within government reserves and 124 on private properties.
- The number of white rhinos in the continent declined by almost 11.8% during 2015-18, while populations of black rhinos increased by just over 12.2%.
- Zimbabwe conserves the largest population of African Rhinoceroses among the four range countries in Africa namely South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
