RARE SURVIVOR

Qualifies for listing as Critically Endangered (CR) under criteria A2abd+4abd. See Figures 8 and 9 and Tables 4 and 5 in the Supplementary Information document. While Black Rhino numbers have more than doubled since bottoming out in the mid 1990s (due to increased protection and enhanced biological management to keep more subpopulations productive), the species qualifies as CR due to the scale of the decline in numbers over the past three generations as a result of very heavy poaching in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Three generations ago (i.e., 44 years back in 1973) the point estimate for Black Rhinos was 37,807 rhinos and despite numbers more than doubling from a low of 2,354 were only 5,495 as of end 2017. This represents a decline over three generations of 85% qualifying as CR under criterion A2. An 83% reduction was projected one year (based on data up to and including 2017) into the future (from 1974–2018). This reduction was the same as observed in point estimates for these dates. The next worse projected reduction in point estimates over three generations was when modelling two years ahead from 1975–2019 (an 81% reduction from an estimated 28,674 in 1975). Numbers continue to increase at a continental-level although at a reduced rate due to the escalation of poaching since 2007. SOURCE: IUCN REDLIST