So why aren\u2019t we dancing in the streets? Well, first, poaching is still rampant. There were 2,707 reported deaths during those four years \u2013 and no one is going to celebrate an average of two rhinos being killed every day. Also, while poaching has declined overall, it is still too high for populations to recover (and continues relentlessly in some hotspots \u2013 South Africa\u2019s Kruger National Park, in particular).<\/p>\n
Despite those occasional glimmers of hope, we can never afford to drop our guard <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>Second, we\u2019ll never be able to declare rhinos safe. (Unfortunately, the same applies to most other endangered species<\/a> \u2013 because conservation never ends.) The best we can do is to hold against the tide. We can never say \u201cRight, that\u2019s one species saved, now let\u2019s save another\u201d. Sadly, the same threats (and\/or new ones) will always be lurking round the corner.<\/p>\n
Rhinos are perhaps the ultimate example of what I call rollercoaster conservation. Poaching is up, poaching is down; numbers are up, numbers are down; one country has cut poaching almost to nil, in another country it\u2019s back with a vengeance. We never win. The good news, and the bad news, comes and goes in cycles.<\/p>\n
In other words, triumphs are typically short-lived. The recovery of the southern white rhino<\/a>, for example, is one of the biggest conservation success stories of all time. Thanks to intensive conservation efforts it went from near-extinction, with a tiny population of fewer than 50 individuals in 1895, to more than 21,000 a decade ago. But now it\u2019s on the decline once again.<\/p>\n
The only long-term solution is to eliminate demand for rhino horn <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>It\u2019s a rollercoaster that has lasted more than 150 years. During the European colonial era in Africa and Asia, uncontrolled trophy hunting<\/a> was largely to blame (everyone from President Roosevelt to Ernest Hemingway shot rhinos). But then hunting for their horns took a terrible toll: those magnificent horns<\/a>, which have helped to protect rhinos for millions of years, are the main reason so many hundreds of thousands have been killed.<\/p>\n
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A pair of white rhinoceros in Namibia. \u00a9 Reinhard Dirscherl\/Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n The slaughter was so merciless it\u2019s a wonder any survived at all. Indeed, not many did. There were 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, there are just over 26,000 left (15,942 southern white; 2 northern white<\/a>; 6,195 black; 4,014 greater one-horned; 76 Javan and 34-47 Sumatran<\/a>). And most of those five species are in crisis (northern and southern white rhinos are subspecies<\/a>).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obvious that the only long-term solution is to eliminate demand for rhino horn. Without a market, there would be no incentive for poachers.<\/p>\n
But in the key consumer and trafficking countries for rhino horn \u2013 Vietnam and China \u2013 demand is still high (for traditional Chinese medicine and as a status symbol for success and wealth) and enforcement of wildlife crime is still low.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2023\/03\/GettyImages-1214885563-74369e6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>