Background

There are currently five species and 11 subspecies of rhinos on earth with two of the species (Black and White) native to Africa and three species (Greater One-horned, Javan, and Sumatran) are native to Asia. In the past, there was much more diversity. They once resided in North America and Europe in addition to Africa and Asia.

Grazing black rhino - via wallpapers.pupazzo.org

Black Rhino - IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

“During the last century, the black rhino has suffered the most drastic decline in total numbers of all rhino species.”

In 1970, there were approximately 65,000 black rhinos in Africa but by 1993 there were only 2,300 black rhinos surviving in the wild, which is a 96% decrease in the population of the entire species. This launched anti-poaching efforts and the numbers have been recovering and are very slowly increasing. There are currently about 4,240 surviving black rhinos. There number have doubled over the past two decades thanks to conservation efforts, but this is nothing compared to the 100,000 estimated to exist in the early 20th century (7).

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Greater One-Horned Rhino - IUCN Red List: Endangered

Thanks to strict protection from Indian and Nepalese wildlife authorities the greater one-horned rhino has recovered from 200 earlier in the 21^st century to approximately 2,850 surviving today. But because poaching has remained high in Nepal and India, the future of the species is still uncertain.

via Google Images

Javan Rhino – ICUN Red List: Critically Endangered

There are currently 27-44 Javan rhinos living in Indonesia, making it the rarest species of rhino. It is only found in the Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park and its survival is largely due to being physically guarded by Rhino Protection Units.

Image via worldwildlife.org

Sumatran Rhino – IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

The Sumatran rhino has also face a rapid decline in the population of the species. Due to poaching, its numbers have decreased by more than 50% over the past 20 years and fewer than 200 Sumatran rhinos currently survive in very small and highly fragmented populations. They exist only in protected areas where they are physically guarded by Rhino Protection Units in Southeast Asia.

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White Rhino – ICUN Red List: Near Threatened

This species, along with the Greater one-horned rhino, is the largest species of land mammal after elephants. It is the least endangered out of all the living rhino species which approximately 20,150 surviving white rhinos. There are two distinct subspecies but the only the populations of the Southern white rhino are viable. Due to poaching, the Northern white rhino and is believed to be extinct in its habitat in Garamba National park.

Information provided by International Rhino Foundation (1)

Original Image
using information provided by the International Rhino Foundation