The report takes a closer look at rhino populations in Africa, in particular the Kruger National Park. Once a hot spot for rhino poaching in South Africa, the Kruger has seen a decrease of poaching in the last few years with the 2023 poaching numbers (78 rhinos killed) decreasing by 37% from 2022. This is as a result of the Park’s vigilant and holistic approach to protection including dehorning programmes as well as robust arrest, conviction and prosecution procedures. It should also be noted that there has been a programme of translocations of rhino from Kruger to other Parks and Reserves in South Africa.
In other parts of South Africa however, it is a different picture. The vast majority of poaching in the country in 2023 (65%) occurred in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, which had an alarming 325 rhinos poached – 307 of those deaths occurred in just one state run park, Hluhluwe iMfolozi.
The world’s rhino population has increased slightly but there is no sign of a decrease in poaching, particularly in Africa where poaching increased by 4%.
On World Rhino Day 2024, the International Rhino Foundation released their 2024 State of the Rhino Report. The report looks at the population estimates and trends across all five rhino species in Asia and Africa as well as key challenges and conservation developments.
Key points of the report:
- The global rhino population of the five species is estimated to be about 28,000. At the beginning of the 20th century, the world-wide population stood at approximately 500,000. This is a whopping decrease of almost 95% in just 124 years.
- Rhino poaching in Africa increased by 4% from 2022 to 2023 with 586 rhino poaching deaths reported in 2023; of the 586 reported deaths, 499 of them occurred in South Africa. This represents about 2.5% of the African rhino population that year, or one rhino killed every 15 hours on the African continent.
African Rhino Species:
- A huge rise in poaching for rhino horn and the steady increase of habitat loss over the last 50 years has decimated rhino populations in Africa with approximately 23, 885 rhinos across the two African species (white rhino and black rhino) left in the wild today.
- The 2024 report showed that, thanks to preservation efforts, as of the end of 2023, the white rhino population (classified as Near Threatened) was estimated at 17,464 an increase of 3.4% from 2022.
- The black rhino population (classified as Critically Endangered), however, has shown a 1% decrease since the previous year, with the total estimated to be 6,421 at the end of 2023. This slight decline is due to heavy poaching in Namibia and Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in South Africa.
Asian Rhino Species:
- The International Rhino Foundation believes the actual population of Javan rhinos (classified as Critically Endangered) to be around 50 individuals, rather than the 76 previously counted. The discovery of a major poaching operation in Ujung Kulon National Park, where a reported 26 rhinos were poached from 2019 to 2023, has created uncertainty about the number of Javan rhinos currently left in the Park, as well as their population trend.
- In India, the greater one-horned rhino population (classified as Vulnerable) is estimated to be around 4,014.
- The Sumatran Rhino population (classified as Critically Endangered) is estimated to be around 34-47.
A closer look
The report takes a closer look at rhino populations in Africa, in particular the Kruger National Park. Once a hot spot for rhino poaching in South Africa, the Kruger has seen a decrease of poaching in the last few years with the 2023 poaching numbers (78 rhinos killed) decreasing by 37% from 2022. This is as a result of the Park’s vigilant and holistic approach to protection including dehorning programmes as well as robust arrest, conviction and prosecution procedures. It should also be noted that there has been a programme of translocations of rhino from Kruger to other Parks and Reserves in South Africa.
In other parts of South Africa however, it is a different picture. The vast majority of poaching in the country in 2023 (65%) occurred in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, which had an alarming 325 rhinos poached – 307 of those deaths occurred in just one state run park, Hluhluwe iMfolozi.
Conclusions
What is clear from the report is that poaching still remains the greatest threat to rhino populations, especially those in South Africa. The demand for rhino horn, particularly in China and Vietnam, is still very high. Continued vigilance through anti-poaching efforts, and surveillance in both state and National parks and private reserves must remain high. Alongside this lies the threat of habitat loss. These threats are nothing new, but the measures used to manage them are continually changing. Engaging local communities and the private sector is critical to long-term rhino conservation. You can read the 2024 State of the Rhino Report here.
What Helping Rhinos are doing
Protection is a key element of successful conservation and creating secure landscapes where sustainable populations of wildlife can thrive and demonstrate natural behaviours is a primary focus of Helping Rhinos’ Rhino Strongholds initiative.
Within Africa, Helping Rhinos is working alongside carefully selected project partners on the ground, to both protect and expand the areas where rhinos live. This has been done with stringent anti-poaching measures, the restoration of degraded habitats and the opening up of wildlife corridors, all of which increase the areas for rhinos to roam. In addition, we focus on the socioeconomic growth of local communities and empowering them to be a part of wildlife conservation management.
The latest State of the Rhino Report demonstrates that the work we are doing to create sustainable populations of rhino in their natural habitat is showing definite signs of success. However the report also highlights that our battle to give this most iconic of animals a future on our planet has only just begun and that together, we still have a lot or work to do
Black Rhino Population Success
Kenya
For the past three decades, Kenya has been working to conserve the country’s eastern black rhino population achieving incredible results, growing from just 240 in 1984 to 966 at the beginning of 2024. This is an incredible milestone towards Kenya’s goal of achieving a population of 2,000 eastern black rhinos by 2037. Reaching such a goal would mean stability for the sub species.
Helping Rhinos’ partner, Ol Pejeta Conservancy is one such area reaping the success of its black rhino protection and management. It currently has the largest population of eastern black rhino in Africa, with an increase from just 20 individuals in 1992, to 171 today. This was achieved by dedicated rangers carrying out regular monitoring of individual rhinos, as well as K9 anti-poaching patrols and working with local communities to achieve the long term vision for the eastern black rhino. Helping Rhinos are incredibly proud to have been part of this achievement through its year-on-year fundraising efforts.
South Africa
South Africa is home to approximately 2,000 black rhino. However, the threat of poaching continues to put pressure on National Parks and privately run Reserves to maintain rhino populations.
Kariega Game Reserve is a family-owned and operated Big 5 reserve of pristine African wilderness located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It is also home to the world-famous poaching survivor Thandi and her ever-growing family.
Kariega’s conservation arm, the Kariega Foundation working with Helping Rhinos and other carefully selected partners, embarked on an ambitious habitat expansion project to expand the wildlife habitat and create more land for animals, including rhino, to roam freely. This involved acquiring and incorporating critically important farmlands along the Bushman’s River into the Kariega Game Reserve protected area, ensuring the protection and conservation of 25km of pristine river valley. This first phase was completed in 2022, growing the footprint of the protected area to 11,500 hectares.
As a result of the habitat expansion, in December 2023, Kariega received their first translocated black rhinos as part of a partnership with WWF South Africa and their Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP).
You can find out more about these important black rhino range expansions here.
Essential Rhino Orphan Support in KwaZulu-Natal
The Zululand Rhino Orphanage is the only dedicated rhino rescue and rehabilitation facility in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the current global epicentre of rhino poaching in South Africa.
This facility plays a vital role in the landscape, taking in orphaned calves and giving them the best possible chance to survive and one day return to the wild. With the increase in poaching currently being seen across KZN, its work is more important than ever.
Helping Rhinos is a proud partner of the Zululand Rhino Orphanage. At a time when all species of rhino face the very real threat of extinction, the criticality of saving every rhino we can has never been greater. Since 2017 Helping Rhinos has proudly been the largest single contributor to the work of Zululand Rhino Orphanage and its conservation project.
Helping Rhinos runs the ‘Adopt a Rhino Orphan‘ programme in collaboration with Zululand Rhino Orphanage.
How You Can Help
There are many ways you can support the work we do. Our work is only possible with the generous donations of our valued supporters. We appreciate every gift and promise that we will use every donation where the need is greatest.