The number of rhinos is slightly up but poaching has increased too

The rhino population across the world has increased slightly but so have the killings, mostly in South Africa, as poaching fed by huge demand for rhino horns remains a top threat. Conservationists said in a new report that the number of white rhinos increased from 15,942 in 2022 to 17,464 in 2023, but the black and greater one-horned rhino stayed the same. Another subspecies, the northern white rhino, is technically extinct with only two females being kept in a secure private conservancy in Kenya. With all five subspecies combined, there are just under 28,000 rhinos left in the world, from 500,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.