![]() ![]() At present, all trade in rhino horn is prohibited, and the extent of illegal trade is monitored by TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network of the IUCN and WWF). Conservation efforts are concentrating on reducing demand for rhino horn, while at the same time increasing protection for wild populations. Several organisations are working to help save this species. It has a huge market value, and as a result of civil unrest and wars, many poverty-stricken African farmers have been left with little option but to turn to poaching as a means of survival. Currently almost all rhino deaths are caused by poaching to obtain the horn. Although this demand has now subsided, rhino horn is still being illegally exported to Asia for use in traditional medicine. Rhino numbers plummeted as a result of subsequent poaching. In the 1970s there was huge demand for rhino horn from Yemen, where it was used to make handles for traditional daggers worn by the wealthy as status symbols. However, the main threat to the rhino has been the demand for its horn, and this remains the case today. Over the years, it has been killed for sport, and for its hide and meat. The black rhino has a reputation for being unpredictable and dangerous, and has suffered much persecution as a result. Rhino numbers are now increasing, but recovery is slow and the western subspecies in particular is still very much in danger of becoming extinct.Ĭlassified as Critically Endangered (CR A2abc) on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Population size collapsed during the last century, from an estimated 65,000 animals in 1970 to a mere 2,300 in the 1990s. There are currently approximately 3,610 surviving black rhinos.
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