International Rhino Foundation - Black Rhinos

Black Rhinos

The population of black rhinos, native to Eastern and Southern Africa, is up from about 2,500 animals five years ago to at least 4,200 animals today. But Zimbabwe’s black rhino population, now the third largest in Africa, still faces serious threats. Since early 2000, at least one-third of the total area where rhino conservancies exist in southern Zimbabwe has experienced large-scale invasions as a result of land reformation - resulting in the displacement of black rhinos from their home ranges as well as their incidental and purposeful injuries and deaths. There have been more than 150 confirmed black rhino deaths since 2000. These losses would have been significantly higher, however, if it were not for IRF’s veterinary interventions which have helped to maintain a positive rate of population growth, showing that rhino conservation in Zimbabwe is not a ‘lost cause’.

IRF works primarily in the lowveld conservancies of Zimbabwe, where we collaborate with local communities to ensure the safety of the animals through monitoring and anti-poaching patrols. Our rhino operations teams regularly remove snares, provide veterinary treatment, and rescue at-risk rhinos, moving them to safer areas. Since 2002, we have translocated a total of 116 at-risk black rhinos. These translocations have reduced the number of rhinos exposed to targeted poaching and high snaring risk and there has been a gradual reduction in the number of emergency de-snaring operations required. Eighty-two of these translocated rhinos have been used to establish a new breeding population in Bubye Valley Conservancy, which has the capacity to accommodate more than 400 black rhinos. This represents one of the largest range expansion achievements made anywhere in Africa in recent years.