But a devastating poaching wave swept down the continent, wiping out nearly the entire population. At the lowest point in the early 1990s there were just over 2000 black rhino left. Thanks to intensive protection, that number is slowly increasing. There are now approximately 4000 black rhino.
Although black rhino numbers have crept up, there is no room for complacency. Poaching remains an ever-present threat, and is on the increase again. Some areas have inadequate security and demand for rhino horn products continues. Powdered rhino horn is still used in some Chinese traditional medicines, primarily as a mild fever reducer.
Unfortunately, the widespread but misleading publicity regarding its use as an aphrodisiac may have increased consumer demand for the product. Demand for rhino horn ceremonial daggers in Yemen, a major cause of the devastating poaching wave of the 1970s and 1980s, may have diminished, and some religious leaders in that country have spoken out against the killing of rhinos.
Although the demand for rhino horn originates outside of Africa, some of the greatest threats to rhinos come from within. These include poverty, wars, corruption, varying attitudes of politicians and local communities towards conservation, and land invasions.
When a population is small there can be a critical loss of genetic material through random events, such as too few females being born, or floods, fires, disease or poaching. Small size of populations leads to increased in-breeding, which leads to lower birth-rate and survival.
