© Environment News Service (ENS) 2000
August 7, 2000

GLAND, Switzerland, August 7, 2000 (ENS) - African rhinos are trotting back from the brink of extinction according to figures released today by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Once hunted into oblivion for their horns, rhinos are now the beneficiaries of successful conservation efforts. But conservation of rhino habitat is expensive - as much as US$2,600 per square mile annually.

The latest estimates, prepared by the IUCN's authoritative African Rhino Specialist Group, show that there are now more rhinos in Africa than at any time since the early 1980s.

Still, illegal demand for horn, high unemployment, poverty, demand for land, wars, the ready availability of arms and political instability continue to pose a threat to African rhino populations.

Numbers of the two species of African rhinoceros, the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) and the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) are both increasing in the wild.

"Even though overall numbers are positive, there is no room for complacency," said Dr. Martin Brooks, chairman of IUCN's African Rhino Specialist Group. "Numbers of two of the six African rhino subspecies remain very low, and invasions of private land in Zimbabwe by war veterans and squatters currently pose a threat to several significant populations."

In 1999, African rhino numbers in the wild reached just over 13,000, up from 8,300 in 1992.

Most of this increase is due to the continued rapid growth in the number of southern white rhino. The balance between white and black rhino has shifted with 79 percent of African rhino in the wild in 1999 being white rhino, compared to only 30 percent in 1984.

The demand for rhino horn for traditional Chinese medicine - not as an aphrodisiac, as commonly believed - and for making decorative dagger handles in the Middle East has fueled an illegal international horn trade which has led to the poaching of thousands of rhinos.

But intensive conservation efforts in several African countries have helped black rhino numbers increase in the wild from a low of around 2,450 in 1992 to just over 2,700 by 1999.

Another 234 black rhinos are living in captivity elsewhere around the world.

There are still threatened populations teetering on the edge of extinction. The future of one of the four black rhino subspecies, the western black rhino, is bleak, says the IUCN report. Only about 10 animals remain scattered across northern Cameroon.

The southern white rhino, rescued from near extinction a century ago, stands as one of the world's greatest conservation success stories, says the IUCN.

Their numbers are up from fewer than 100 in 1895 to just over 10,300 by 1999. Ninety-four percent of them are in South Africa, with a further 721 in captivity worldwide.

By contrast, the situation facing the other white rhino subspecies, the northern white rhino, is critical. Today only 24 to 31 northern white rhino exist in the wild in a single population in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Following a recent birth there are now 10 northern white rhinos in captivity.

In recent years, the implementation of effective conservation strategies involving government agencies, local communities, NGOs and private landowners in countries like South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Swaziland and Tanzania has played a major role in stabilizing and gradually restoring rhino populations.

In South Africa, which conserves 83 percent of Africa's rhinos, a combination of measures including support from WWF and other donors helps offset some of the shortfalls caused by declines in government funding.

The continuing declines in government funding for conservation across Africa, and reduced staffing levels in some range states reduces the ability of national conservation agencies to undertake the necessary actions in the field.

Dr. Steve Osofsky, director of field support for the WWF-US Species Program, warned, "The positive trends we're currently seeing are only as stable as the political and economic climates of the range states themselves."

"For long term success, we must continue to work with a broad spectrum of stakeholders - from the community level all the way up to the highest levels of government. Otherwise, we may win a few battles, but lose the war," he said.

"These efforts are expensive, and we must continue to look at creative financing mechanisms given that many countries in Africa and Asia will likely continue to be unable to maintain adequate rhino conservation budgets without outside assistance for the foreseeable future. We empathize with the many competing priorities these governments are up against," Osofsky said. "WWF and IUCN will continue to do all we can." Error: Unable to read footer file.