Lockdowns, conservation raise rhinos’ number in India, Nepal

August 23, 2022

Better law enforcement and conservation measures, aided by coronavirus-induced lockdowns and restrictions for a couple of years, have led to the number of greater one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal increasing from an estimated 3,588 in 2018 to 4,014 at the end of 2021.
Prepared for the 19th meeting of the CoP to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which will be held in Panama in November this year, the report has lauded conservation efforts, including strengthened law enforcement in this regard in the two neighbouring countries which share borders ensuring free movement of the endangered wild species.
The report, however, found that 11 rhino poaching incidents were recorded in Asia (ten in India and one in Nepal) since the beginning of 2018, all of which involved greater one-horned rhinos.
Overall, world over rhino poaching rates declined since 2018, and trade data suggested the lowest annual estimate of rhino horns entering illegal trade markets since 2013.
The report found that rhino poaching rates in Africa have continued to decline from a peak of 5.3 per cent of the total population in 2015 to 2.3 per cent in 2021.
At least 2,707 rhinos were poached across Africa between 2018 and 2021, accounting for both the white rhino (ceratotherium simum), which is vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and the rarer critically endangered black rhino (diceros bicornis).
South Africa accounted for 90 per cent of all reported cases, predominantly affecting white rhinos in Kruger National Park, home to the world’s largest white rhino population.
As a result, overall white rhino numbers on the continent have declined by almost 12 per cent (from 18,067 to 15,942 individuals) during this period, while populations of black rhino increased by just over 12 per cent (from 5,495 to 6,195 individuals). Overall, Africa’s rhino population declined around 1.6 per cent per year, from an estimated 23,562 individuals in 2018 to 22,137 at the end of 2021.
According to the report, global lockdowns and restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic saw several African countries experience dramatically reduced poaching rates in 2020 compared to previous years. South Africa lost 394 rhinos to poaching in 2020, while Kenya recorded no rhino poaching that year. However, as Covid-19 travel restrictions were lifted, some range states reported new increases in poaching activities – for example, South Africa reported 451 and Kenya six poached rhinos in 2021. However, these numbers are still significantly lower than during the peak in 2015, when South Africa alone lost 1,175 rhinos to poaching.
However, in 2019, before the Covid-19 outbreak, the reported seized weight of illegal rhino specimens reached its highest point of the decade, perhaps due to increased regulations and law enforcement efforts.
While the range and consumer countries most affected by illegal trade remained the same as in previous reports, the lack of consistent reporting by some countries still limits the ability to better understand patterns of illegal trade in rhino horns.