header: Black Rhinoceros
WWF Logo
line 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
line