A Conservation Success: The Story of the One-Horned Rhino

Often, all we hear is bad news: key animal species are being killed off at alarming rates. This story is different.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint/Rahul Gupta)

Conservation efforts are not always successful. Endangered animals are constantly threatened by poaching and their habitats are often replaced by human development. Many animals are fighting a losing battle for survival.

But the case of the Asian One-Horned Rhino is different. Back in the early 1900’s, fewer than 200 rhinos were left in Asia. They had been hunted to near extinction.

Since then, poaching was banned and populations have rebounded. Now, there are more than 3,300 One-Horned Rhinos in the wild.

(Infographic: The Quint/Rahul Gupta)

Though the One-Horned Rhino is doing well, other species of Rhino are struggling.

A few years ago, the Western Black Rhino – a black rhino sub-species found in Africa – was officially declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Fewer than 4,000 Black Rhinos are left, down from 70,000 back in the 1960’s.

Poaching bans in India and Nepal have been more successful than bans in many African countries.

Still, One-Horned Rhino populations have a long way to go before their numbers reach a level that doesn’t require as much care.