Diceros bicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
POPULATION
Populations of Black Rhinos have declined very rapidly in the second half of this century. During the late 1960s it was estimated that 70,000 survived in Africa; in 1981 only 10-15,000 remained and by 1993 only 2,475 rhinos were recorded. The latest update for 1996 gave a total of 2,408 Black rhinoceros. 6,12,22
In the 1980s and early 1990s numbers decreased by between 40% and 90% in some regions; the rate of population decline was lowest in South Africa (approximately 30%).12 Populations in Africa have remained relatively stable since 1992 but this is largely due to an increase of 23% in South Africa and Namibia since 1993. Many countries continue to experience declines. 23 Population estimates are given in Table 1.
Major population: The extensive and well protected national park system of South Africa has allowed the continuing recovery of black rhino populations. South Africa now holds approximately 50% of the worldwide population.23
Distribution and preliminary
numbers of rhinos in Africa [Source: IUCN/SSC/African Rhino Specialist
Group, 1998]
|
White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum)
subspecies |
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)
subspecies |
|
Country |
C.s.simum |
C.s.cottoni |
Total White |
Trend |
D.b.bicornis |
D.b.longipes |
D.b.michaeli |
D.b.minor |
Total Black |
Trend |
Botswana |
23 |
|
23 |
Up |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cameroon |
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
|
|
10 |
? |
Chad |
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
0 |
? |
D R Congo |
|
25 |
25 |
down |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ethiopia |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
0 |
? |
Côte d'Ivoire |
4 |
|
4 |
stable |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kenya |
137 |
|
137 |
up |
|
|
424 |
|
424 |
up |
Malawi |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
3 |
up |
Mozambique |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 |
13 |
? |
Namibia |
141 |
|
141 |
up |
707 |
|
|
|
707 |
up |
Rwanda |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
|
4 |
? |
South Africa |
7913 |
|
7913 |
up |
34 |
|
33 |
976 |
1043 |
up |
Swaziland |
50 |
|
50 |
up |
|
|
|
10 |
10 |
up |
Tanzania |
|
|
|
|
|
|
24 |
22 |
46 |
up? |
Zambia |
6 |
|
6 |
up |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zimbabwe |
167 |
|
167 |
up |
|
|
|
339 |
339 |
up |
Totals |
8441 |
25 |
8466 |
|
741 |
10 |
485 |
1363 |
2599 |
|
|
<---- Contents
|