The population of Rhinoceros across Africa rose by 5.2% during 2022, with 23 290 Animals at the end of the year., according to a press release issued by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature on 21 September 2023 This is despite ongoing poaching in many countries, with 561 Rhinoceros known to have been killed by poachers in 2022. South Africa has the highest population of Rhinoceros on the continent, but also the highest rate of poaching, with 448 Animals killed in 2022, slightly down on 2021, when 451 Rhinoceros were killed by poachers in South Africa. In Namibia 93 Rhinoceros are known to have been killed by poachers in 2022, a sharp rise on 2021, when only 47 were lost in this way. In Kenya a single Rhinoceros was lost to poachers in 2022, down from six in 2021.
Both species of African Rhinoceros have seen a population increase, with a combination of protection and biological management initiatives seeing the population of Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis, increase by 4/2% to 6487, and the population of White Rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum, increasing by 5.6% to 16 803. Notably, this is the first increase in white rhino numbers since 2012.
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