White rhino population grows for first time in 10 years

The population of southern white rhinos has increased for the first time since 2012, a leading conservation group has said as it revealed the results of its annual survey.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) announced on Thursday that “white rhinos now number around 16,803 animals, an increase of 5.6%” from the previous year.

“Notably, this is the first increase in white rhino numbers since 2012,” it added.

The black rhino population also increased and reached nearly 6,500 by the end of last year.

However, Michael Knight, the chair of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group said that despite the growth of Africa’s rhino population, rhino conservation is still necessary as poaching remains high.

In 2022, Africa lost 561 rhinos to poaching, 448 of which were killed in South Africa.

Poaching losses nearly doubled in Namibia, increasing from 47 rhinos killed in 2021 to 93 in 2022.

In Kenya, one rhino died from poaching, down from six in 2021.

Earlier this month conservation group African Parks said it planned to release 2,000 southern white rhinos into the wild after buying the world’s largest private captive rhino breeding operation in South Africa.

There are only two surviving members another subspecies, the northern white rhino – both female and both in Kenya. It is thought that rhino-horn poaching brought about their near extinction.