10 Years of World Rhino Day

• News & Highlights

2011 feels like a world away from where we are today, but what has the past 10 years brought for rhinos? Today, on the 10th anniversary of World Rhino Day, we’re looking back at the highs and lows of the past decade and thinking about what’s to come next.

The poaching crisis

It won’t surprise you that poaching has been the biggest challenge to overcome in the last 10 years. Sadly, during this time, nearly 9,500 African rhinos lost their lives because of poaching. It has been a constant threat to rhino conservation efforts over the last decade. And while fewer rhinos are being poached today than the horrific high of 2015, when 1,349 African rhinos were killed in a single year, the latest figures show that the number of rhinos poached in 2020 was similar to that of 2011.

This not only means that rhinos have been constantly under threat since the poaching crisis began in 2008, but also that rangers are working round-the-clock, in extremely dangerous situations, to try and keep rhinos safe. These brave men and women deserve so much support. Without them, the number of rhinos poached would be much, much higher.