![]() ![]() We can’t sum up the last 10 years of rhino conservation without mentioning Covid-19 and the startling impacts that it has had across the world. Meanwhile, however, it’s clear that the current population remains healthy: four new calves have been spotted in the last 12 months. With every Javan rhino living in one place, a disease breakout or natural disaster could be devastating. While the species has continued to grow, finding more healthy, secure environments for the rhinos to live in is imperative. In 2014, camera trap footage showed that 58 rhinos were living in Ujung Kulon National Park (the last remaining Javan rhino habitat), an increase from 44 at the previous count. The last decade has seen significant boosts for Javan rhinos, too. By continuing breeding efforts and rescuing the last remaining wild Sumatran rhinos, we are determined to secure a future for this unique species. In 2018 we joined a ground-breaking alliance to boost Sumatran rhino conservation. Of course, the species needs many more new rhinos to increase its population to a safe number, let alone to thrive. That’s not the only good news: a second rhino, named Delilah, was born at the SRS in 2016! The calf, named Andatu (meaning “gift from God”), became a ray of hope for Sumatran rhinos. In 2012, incredible news came: for the first time, a Sumatran rhino had been born in captivity in Indonesia, at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS). For Javan and Sumatran rhinos, keeping every animal safe, and encouraging them to breed, is critical. Today, there are two rhino species each with fewer than 80 animals. Now, the last hope of the Northern white rhino lies in science. The reality that there is no longer a natural future for this white rhino subspecies brought the reality and urgency of extinction to the forefront of many people’s minds. Today, as far as we know, just two Northern white rhinos are left: Najin and Fatu, Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively. One of the biggest rhino news stories of the last 10 years was the death of Sudan, the world’s last known male Northern white rhino, in March 2018. Thankfully, all three other black rhino subspecies continue to live today, though the species remains at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Extensive poaching in the 1970s and 1980s caused its numbers to plummet, and by 2003, just a handful of rhinos remained. One of four black rhino subspecies, the Western black rhino used to roam across Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Sudan and South Sudan, making it the northernmost African rhino subspecies. In 2011 the Western black rhino was declared extinct. Without them, the number of rhinos poached would be much, much higher. ![]() These brave men and women deserve so much support. This not only means that rhinos have been constantly under threat since the poaching crisis began in 2008, but also that rangers are working round-the-clock, in extremely dangerous situations, to try and keep rhinos safe. And while fewer rhinos are being poached today than the horrific high of 2015, when 1,349 African rhinos were killed in a single year, the latest figures show that the number of rhinos poached in 2020 was similar to that of 2011. It has been a constant threat to rhino conservation efforts over the last decade. Sadly, during this time, nearly 9,500 African rhinos lost their lives because of poaching. It won’t surprise you that poaching has been the biggest challenge to overcome in the last 10 years. 2011 feels like a world away from where we are today, but what has the past 10 years brought for rhinos? Today, on the 10 th anniversary of World Rhino Day, we’re looking back at the highs and lows of the past decade and thinking about what’s to come next. ![]()
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