Zimbabwe is home to the fourth largest population of black rhinos in the world – and the country’s population is in severe danger due to poaching for their horn. In 2008, Zimbabwe’s black rhino (Diceros bicornis) population numbered 490 individuals; the number now is estimated at half of that. The black rhino is classified as Critically Endangered (read more), with a worldwide population of only 4,240.

During the last century, the black rhino has suffered the most drastic decline in total numbers of all rhino species; the population of this species decreased by 96%.

The growing purchasing power of many Asian countries, combined with organized gangs of poachers who have an outlet for selling rhino horn on has kept the poaching threat great. To save the species, anti-poaching efforts must be continued and accelerated.

The IRF-supported Lowveld Rhino Project is working to save Zimbabwe’s rhinos from poachers by translocating rhinos from high-risk areas to safer locations; treating rhinos with snare wounds and other injuries and returning them to the wild; helping authorities track, apprehend, and prosecute poachers; and intensively tracking and monitoring rhinos to ensure their safety.

Experts Say Zimbabwe Rhino in “State of Crisis”

Conservation experts, The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and Save the Rhino, today called the rhino poaching situation in Zimbabwe “an immediate crisis with long-term consequences” and called for concerted action by the government of Zimbabwe and international agencies that are mandated to tackle poaching of endangered species and to regulate trade in wildlife products.

In a conference call held with reporters from across the globe, the IRF and Save the Rhino said continued inaction undermines the country’s economic recovery because rhino poaching is threatening one of the key economic pillars for Zimbabwe -- ecotourism.

“Zimbabwe’s economic crisis is serious, but now Zimbabwe is in danger of losing its biological currency – rhinos and other wildlife,” said Dr. Susie Ellis, Executive Director of the IRF, which funds anti-poaching patrols in five countries. “This high-value biological currency could be a key factor in turning around the economy through tourism - if we can act now to ensure it is not lost.”

Poaching of black and white rhinos in Zimbabwe has more than doubled in the past year and organized poaching gangs may have literally been getting away with murder. Not only do the poachers slaughter rhinos, but they have also been firing on the people who try to protect them. Because of collapsing law-enforcement efforts, not a single Zimbabwean rhino poacher has been sentenced in a court during the past three years.