![]() Kenya’s rhinos which had declined to fewer than 400 now number over 1,000, including 80% of the world population of the eastern black rhino ( Dicerus bicornis michaeli). ![]() Wildlife authorities invested heavily in military protection and intelligence, and scientifically managed the population densities and genetics to maximise breeding. In the 1980’s Kenya took a radical decision to take all wild rhinos out of the wild and keep them in heavily fenced sanctuaries. This was achieved by strictly protecting rhinos on reserves and moving surplus populations to other suitable sites. The recovery of the southern white rhino ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni) in southern Africa from a handful of individuals at the end of the 19th century to the current population of more than 20,000 is one of wildlife conservation’s great success stories. Not a single baby rhino was born and, by the end of the century, almost all the captured animals had died of disease.Įvidence suggests population management can aid recovery of threatened rhino species, but only if it is combined with intensive protection of natural breeding habitats-something that is not happening in Southeast Asia. Despite the lack of any evidence that the species could be bred successfully in captivity, 40 animals-a significant proportion of the entire wild population-were captured and moved to zoos and reserves. In the 1980s, in response to the threatened extinction of the Sumatran rhino, conservationists took the decision to initiate a captive breeding programme. Here is a list of four ‘bad ideas’ to save rhinos: Bad idea 1: Captive breeding of animals that won’t breed in captivity In the face of failed policies to conserve the natural habitats that harbour wildlife, some still hope that human ingenuity can save their inhabitants from extinction. Wildlife extinction is a consequence of policy failure. How could this have happened? Each individual extinction has its own story, but the underlying reason is that we, humans, have let it happen. Now they are so rare that we can give them all names. When I was young, there were parts of Kenya where it was dangerous to walk because you might be attacked by rhinos. I find it shocking that the collapse of rhino populations has happened in my lifetime.
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