Rhino Facts

"Since 1970 the world's rhino population has declined by 90 percent." World Wildlife Fund

CURRENT RHINO NUMBERS
A combination of poaching and habitat loss has reduced the total world rhino population from around 70,000 thirty years ago, to under 18,000 individuals today. According to the AfRSG & the IUCN, there are currently roughly:

- 60 Javan rhinos
- 300 Sumatran rhinos
- 2,400 Indian rhinos
- 3,610 Black rhinos
- 11,100 White rhinos

THE PROBLEM
The fundamental problem for the rhino is its horn, which is made of keratin, a substance found in human hair and nails. Rhino horn is used extensively in traditional medicine in Asia and to make ornamental dagger handles in the Yemen. The demand is so great that traders are prepared to pay poachers vast sums to kill rhinos for their horns.

THE SOLUTION
Rhinos have faced wholesale slaughter, and if it were not for the action of organisations such as Save the Rhino there would be no rhinos left. In the past few years, the overall decline of the rhino has been halted, and populations in Africa are beginning to stabilise.

Source: Save the Rhino