The smaller and rarer of the two African rhino species, the black rhinoceros has faced steep decline since the early 20th century. The situation became dire in the 1970s, when poaching for the rhino’s horns decimated the population. By 1993, the black rhino population had declined by over 98%.
Extensive sanctions to ban the trade of rhino horns eventually slowed the decline of the species. In the 2000s, translocation efforts (like the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project) promoted breeding and genetic diversity between the remaining rhino colonies. As a result, the number of wild black rhinos is up to 6,000 and increasing 2.5% each year.
