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afrol.com, 8 August - Numbers of the two species of African rhinoceros, the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) and the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) continue to increase in the wild according to new estimates announced yesterday by IUCN - the World Conservation Union and WWF, the conservation organization. The latest estimates, prepared by IUCN's African Rhino Specialist Group, show that there are now more rhino in Africa than at any time since the early to mid 1980s. In 1999, African rhino numbers in the wild reached just over 13,000, up from 8,300 in 1992. Most of this increase is due to the continued rapid growth in the number of southern white rhino. The balance between white and black rhino has shifted with 79% of African rhino in the wild in 1999 being white rhino, compared to only 30% in 1984. "Even though overall numbers are positive, there is no room for complacency," said Dr Martin Brooks, Chairman of IUCN's African Rhino Specialist Group. "Numbers of two of the six African rhino subspecies remain very low, and invasions of private land in Zimbabwe by war veterans and squatters currently pose a threat to several significant populations." The demand for rhino horn for traditional Chinese medicine (not as an aphrodisiac, as commonly believed) and for making decorative dagger handles in the Middle East has for decades fuelled an illegal international horn trade which has led to the poaching of thousands of rhinos. However, intensive conservation efforts in several African countries have helped black rhino numbers increase in the wild from a low of around 2,450 in 1992 to just over 2,700 by 1999, with a further 234 black rhino in captivity worldwide. While the continuing increase in continental black rhino numbers since 1995 is encouraging, the future of one of the four black rhino subspecies, the western black rhino, is bleak with only about 10 animals remaining scattered across northern Cameroon.
The southern white rhino, rescued from near extinction a century ago, stands as one of the world's greatest conservation success stories, up from approximately 20 in 1895 to just over 10,300 by 1999 (94% of which are in South Africa), with a further 721 in captivity worldwide. By contrast, the situation facing the other white rhino subspecies, the northern white rhino, is critical; and today only between 24 and 31 exist in the wild in a single population in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Following a recent birth there are now 10 northern white rhino in captivity. In recent years, the implementation of effective conservation strategies involving government agencies, local communities, NGOs and private landowners in countries like South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Swaziland and Tanzania has played a major role in stabilising and gradually restoring rhino populations. In South Africa, which conserves 83% of Africa's rhinos, a combination of measures including some well targeted support from WWF and other donors helps offset some of the shortfalls caused by declines in government funding. However, successful conservation of rhino habitat comes at a high price (as much as US$1,000/km2/year). The continuing declines in government funding for conservation across the African continent, and reduced staffing levels in some range States following structural adjustment programmes reduces the ability of State conservation agencies to undertake the necessary field conservation action. Illegal demand for horn, high unemployment, poverty, demand for land, wars, the ready availability of arms and internal instability continue to pose a threat to rhino populations. "One of the greatest challenges facing the future of rhinos in both Africa and Asia is maintaining sufficient conservation expenditure and field effort," Dr Brooks added.
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