Private Rhino Conservation

Towards the end of 2018 private landowners in South Africa conserved roughly 40% of white rhinos globally and that figure may be closer to 50% in mid-2020. For the past decade these rhino owners, together with their counterparts in formal state conservation, have battled a ten- to twenty-fold increase in poaching activity. The levels of poaching have been such that scientists have warned of the risks of extinction within decades if current trends are continued.

Despite these concerns, and until recently, there has not been a nationwide assessment of trends in how private rhino owners are responding to the poaching crisis and whether the