Less than 200 years ago, there were more than one million black and white rhinos across the African savannas. In 1990, only 6,000 white rhinos and 2,400 black rhinos remained in the wild. Thanks to conservation efforts, these numbers increased significantly by 2008, with white rhinos numbering as high as 20,000. However, this was only a temporary change: since 2009, almost 6,000 rhinos were poached and approximately 1,400 rhinos murdered illegally in 2015 alone. As a result of these staggering figures, experts warn that wild African rhinos may be extinct by 2026. This is already true of the white rhino - there are only three living today, all held in captivity.
One of the biggest threats to the rhino population is the illegal trade of rhino horns, which sell for up to $60,000 per kilogram. According to the senior vice president of wildlife conservation at the World Wildlife Fund, saving the rhino will require a multi-pronged strategy to combat trafficking and demand as well as the act of poaching itself.