Rhinos: Where they stand
Illustrated by
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Lauren Tamaki
While WWF’s primary work focuses on greater one-horned and black rhinos, the scope of our efforts—on antipoaching, community engagement, habitat management, and more—supports all rhino species in one way or another. This roundup of information uses data from the IUCN Redlist, the world’s most comprehensive information source on the conservation status of wildlife, and our wildlife team’s expertise.
Greater one-horned rhino
Rhinoceros unicornis
IUCN STATUS Vulnerable
LOCATION India • Nepal
HABITAT Grasslands • Savannas • Shrublands • Near swamps, forests, riversides
POPULATION ~3,700
THREATS Poaching • Habitat loss and degradation • Climate change • Human-wildlife conflict
CURRENT TRENDS Numbers have recovered from a low of around 200 at the turn of the 20th century to around 3,700 today.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS Antipoaching and protection • Translocation • Active habitat management • Rhino mounds
© LAUREN TAMAKI/WWF
Javan rhino
Rhinoceros sondaicus
IUCN STATUS Critically Threatened
LOCATION Java (Indonesia) • Single population in Ujung Kulon National Park
HABITAT Moist broad-leaf forests
POPULATION 74
THREATS Very small population size • Habitat loss and degradation • Poaching • Natural disasters (volcanic eruptions and tsunamis) • Diseases transmitted by domestic livestock and native wild cattle
CURRENT TRENDS Once lived throughout northeast India and Southeast Asia, but today only one isolated population remains.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS Active habitat management • Antipoaching and protection • Relocation
© LAUREN TAMAKI/WWF
Sumatran rhino
Dicerorhinus sumatrensis
IUCN STATUS Critically Threatened
LOCATION Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo
HABITAT Dense tropical forests
POPULATION Fewer than 80
THREATS Very small population size • Lack of breeding in the wild due to isolation of remaining animals • Habitat loss and degradation • Poaching
CURRENT TRENDS Once found in other parts of Southeast Asia, including Bhutan, northeast India, southern China, Cambodia, and Thailand. Currently the most threatened rhino species.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS Relocation to managed conservation breeding facilities to maximize population growth • DNA sampling of biodiversity
© LAUREN TAMAKI/WWF
White rhino
Ceratotherium simum
IUCN STATUS Near Threatened
LOCATION South Africa • Botswana • Kenya • Namibia • Eswatini • Zambia • Zimbabwe • Uganda
HABITAT Grasslands • Savannas • Shrublands
POPULATION 17,212–18,915
THREATS Poaching
CURRENT TRENDS The southern white rhino recovered from near extinction, with numbers as low as 50 in the wild in the 1990s.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS Translocation • Antipoaching and protection • FLIR antipoaching technology • Rhino DNA antipoaching project
© LAUREN TAMAKI/WWF
Black rhino
Diceros bicornis
IUCN STATUS Critically Threatened
LOCATION Kenya • Namibia • South Africa • Eswatini • Tanzania • Zimbabwe • Zambia • Botswana • Malawi
HABITAT Grasslands • Savannas • Shrublands • Deserts • Woodlands
POPULATION 5,366–5,627
THREATS Poaching
CURRENT TRENDS Numbers crashed from roughly 65,000 in the 1970s to a low of 2,400 in 1995. Since then, populations have more than doubled.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS Communal conservancies • Namibia’s Rhino Custodianship Program • Antipoaching, anti-trafficking, and protection • Biological monitoring
© LAUREN TAMAKI/WWF
© Kevin Schafer/WWF-Canon
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