In Asia, the status of both rhinos and tigers is also bleak. Neighboring countries experienced a surge in rhino poaching over the last year, and across the African continent, the numbers of rhinos killed has increased each year over the past six years. Although there was a slight decrease in rhino poaching numbers in 2015, the change is statistically insignificant given the continued large numbers of rhinos killed. By 2014, the number of poached rhinos per year had skyrocketed to 1,215. A decade ago, South Africa, which has more than 80% of AfricaвЂ™s rhinos, was losing about twenty rhinos a year to poaching. Rhino poaching has also shifted from opportunistic poaching by locals to coordinated, targeted poaching. However, since then the poaching of rhinos for their horns has once again surged upwards in Africa. By the end of 2013, there were approximately 5,000 black rhinos and 20,000 white rhinos in Africa. Ambitious anti-poaching campaigns and reintroduction programs allowed population increases and reintroduction to sites where they had gone extinct. Black and white rhinos were hunted to precariously low numbers throughout Africa and had gone extinct in 15 African countries by the early 1960s and 1970s. By 1970, the global number had dropped to 70,000. Asia is home to the greater one-horned rhino, which is classified as vulnerable, and the Javan and Sumatran rhinos, both of which are classified as critically endangered.ДЄt the beginning of the 20th century, approximately 500,000 rhinos roamed across Africa and Asia. Africa is home to the black rhino and white rhino, which are classified by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered and near threatened, respectively. Unfortunately, these same qualities make these magnificent creatures popular targets: rhinoceros horn and tiger pelts and body parts are in high demand on the global black market.ДЇive species of rhinos survive in Africa and Asia, but they are all under threat. Rhinos and tigers are big, powerful, and charismatic animals.

Operation Crash Nabs Traffickers, Brings Money to Rhino Conservation

Rhino number