Are White Rhinos Extinct?

Scroll down for the 2022 update.

Southern Africa has two rhinoceros species, commonly known as the black rhino (a browser - eats mostly leaves) and the white rhino (a grazer - eats grass). Both of these species still occur in significant numbers throughout Southern Africa.

The northern white rhino is a subspecies of the white rhino or square-lipped rhino that used to be common in central and east Africa but has been hunted and poached to extinction in the wild. Until 2018, only three individual northern white rhinos remained alive, in captivity. Scientists tried unsuccessfully to get these last three individuals to breed. Sadly, the old male Sudan died in 2018 at a conservancy in Kenya. The only remaining hope for this sub-species is in-vitro fertilization using Sudan's preserved sperm.

The death of Sudan placed the spotlight again on rhino conservation, and the desperate plight of the remaining rhino species, all of which are critically endangered. Rhinos have no natural enemies in the wild. Humans are their only enemy. And the biggest threat to the survival of rhinos is the value of their horns, which at $100,000/kg is now worth more than gold (by weight). It seems that the only reason rhino horn is valued so much is because of a false rumour that a Vietnamese politician's cancer was cured by consuming rhino horn. The superstitious belief in parts of Asia that rhino horn has healing properties has driven up the price of rhino horn. This has caused an escalation of poaching incidents from less than 20 rhinos poached per year between 1990 and 2007, to more than 1,200 rhinos poached during 2014.

Fortunately, there are still many places where you can see white and black rhinos in the wild. In South Africa, the southern Kruger National Park, as well as the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi game reserve, are two of the best places where you can see white or black rhinoceros. Namibia's Etosha National Park has healthy populations of black rhino. In Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia you need to be very lucky to see any rhinos. Most guests do not get to see rhinos in these countries, although recently a number of rhinos were reintroduced to the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana's Okavango Delta region.

Against this background, it is such a privilege to see a rhino in the wild, and the good news is this: Our 2017 game viewing statistics show that our guests have been able to see rhinos on every one of our Kruger Park open vehicle safaris. We still cannot guarantee that you will see rhinos, but so far we have been very lucky, and no guests have returned from a Kruger Park safari of three days or longer without having seen rhinoceros. The question is, will our children and grandchildren still be able to see rhinos in the wild?