State of the Rhino 2024

 Every September, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) publishes its signature report, State of the Rhino, which documents current population estimates and trends, where available, as well as key challenges and conservation developments for the five surviving rhino species in Africa and Asia.

Key takeaways from the 2024 State of the Rhino report:
•    Rhino poaching in Africa increased by 4% from 2022 to 2023. At least 586 African rhinos were poached in 2023, one every 15 hours.
•    While thriving in several regions, the total black rhino population declined slightly over the last year due to heavy poaching in Namibia and Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park in South Africa.
•    White rhino populations in South Africa are on the rise despite poaching.
•    Greater one-horned rhinos have been making use of improved habitats and wildlife corridors.
•    Two calves were born at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park in September and November 2023.
•    Since July 2023, Indonesian authorities have been investigating and prosecuting Javan rhino poaching groups, who confessed to killing 26 rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park from 2019 to 2023.

                             State of the Rhino Species
Species                        IUCN Estimated Population    IUCN Category
White Rhino                        17464                                Near Threatened
Greater One-horned Rhino    4014                                 Vulnerable
Black Rhino                         6421                                  Critically Endangered
Javan Rhino                        About 50                            Critically Endangered
Sumatran Rhino                  34-47                                 Critically Endangered

Global Rhino Population
Year     Population
2007    24615
2009    27130
2012    29646
2016    27979
2018    27344
2021    26266
2023    27420
2024    27990

Rhinos in India
The Asian Rhino Specialist Group (AsRSG) announced that the greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis), found only in India, Nepal and Bhutan, has increased to 4,014 individuals after a biannual survey was completed in early 2022. The population is growing largely due to the governments of India and Nepal creating habitat for rhinos, while also preventing poaching.

IRF will continue our work with the Assam Government and our partners to help increase the rhino population in Assam, India, by supporting implementation of a new strategy, Indian Rhino Vision 2.0 (IRV2.0). IRV2.0 will help secure and manage a minimum of three meta-populations with a total population of 4,500 – 5,000 greater one-horned rhinos in Assam by 2030.

IRV 2.0 intends to:
•    Translocate 10 rhinos from Kaziranga National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to Manas National Park, to increase the Manas population (and its genetic diversity).
•    Make Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries, safe habitat for greater one-horned rhinos with adequate monitoring and security infrastructure, staff, strategies and equipment in place.
•    Establish a new rhino population in Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries by translocating 20 rhinos from Kaziranga and Pobitora over the next 2-3 years.

The current population of greater one-horned rhinos in India:
•    Kaziranga National Park: 2613
•    Orang National Park: 125
•    Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary: 107
•    Manas National Park: 40
•    Jaldapara National Park:  287
•    Gorumara National Park: 52
•    Dudhwa National Park: 38

Kaziranga National Park, home to the world’s largest greater one-horned rhino population, announced an increase of 200 individuals since 2018, despite 400 deaths that were due mainly to natural causes.
In 2023, the Indian government increased Orang National Park by about 200 square km, connecting it to the Laokhowa and Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries, to build a larger landscape corridor for rhinos and other threatened species. This increase follows several expansions of Kaziranga National Park in recent years, which have added 919.48 square kilometers to the Park.

With NGO partners, including IRF, the government of Assam initiated translocations of rhinos within protected areas of Assam to give rhinos more room to breed. The state government also closes all rhino bearing protected areas in Assam to visitors during breeding season.

Working with Local Communities to Restore Habitat in India
One of the most significant landscape-level threats to greater one-horned rhinos is the prevalence of invasive species, which choke out native rhino food plants and limit the amount of habitat available for rhinos and other wildlife. IRF is collaborating with our NGO partner, Aaranyak, and local community members to remove these invasive plants from Manas National Park in India as a pilot phase, where around one-third of the rhinos’ grassland habitat has already been taken over by invasive species.

Over the past year, local community members successfully restored 50 acres of prime rhino habitat under the supervision of IRF’s on-the-ground partner, Aaranyak, and Manas National Park officials. They plan to restore another 250 acres over the next two years. Engagement of local people in removal of invasive plant species also offers them livelihood and in that way it helps park officials to garner better support from local communities along with improvement of grassland habitats.

Rhino news from India:
•    Rhinos return to Assam wildlife sanctuary after 40 years. In December 2023, two rhinos moved themselves from Orang National Park to the Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries by using a newly established wildlife corridor. A total of four rhinos now reside in this newly established area, allowing greater one-horned rhinos to expand their range and population growth in Assam.
•    Two rhinos were killed in a single day in Kaziranga National Park, home to the world’s largest population of greater one-horned rhinos.