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Emslie, R.H., 2000. African rhinos numbering 13,000 for first time since the mid-1980s. Pachyderm 29: 53-56, tables 1-2

  details
 
Location: Africa
Subject: Conservation
Species: African Rhino Species


Original text on this topic:
While three out of every four African rhinos are still conserved in state-run protected areas (75.6%), 18.27% are privately owned and a further 3.68% managed by the private sector on a custodianship basis for the state. Rhinos on communal land account for a further 1.22% with only 1.21 % under other models.
The bulk of privately managed black rhinos are under custodianship on behalf of the state (17.86% of all black rhinos). Only 2.81 % of black rhinos are privately owned. This differs from white rhinos, where 22.29% (2319) of all white rhinos are privately owned.
More black rhinos than white rhinos occur on communal land (160 vs 20), accounting for 5.18% of all black rhinos.
In 1999, of the 251 known discrete white rhino populations in Africa, 178 (70.9%) were privately owned, and 52 occurred in state-run protected areas. However, many of these privately owned white rhino populations are small with an average size of only 13 rhinos, compared with an average population of 153 in state-run protected areas.
Of the 84 discrete black rhino populations in 1999, 49 occurred on state-protected areas with an average size of 41 rhinos. Of those that are privately managed, 22 populations (roughly a quarter) were managed on a custodianship basis (average size, 22). In 1999 there were 8 privately owned black rhino populations, although all were small, averaging only 9.5 rhinos each.
In four of the white rhino range states (Botswana, Kenya, Namibia and Swaziland), more white rhinos occur on privately managed or owned or communal land than on land managed by the formal state conservation bodies. In Zimbabwe in 1999, approximately twice as many black rhinos were managed by the private sector on a custodianship basis (293) than were conserved in state-run protected areas (1 42). A further 190 black rhinos were also managed under custodianship in Kenya, Namibia and Swaziland with 76 being privately owned in South Africa.
In 1999, 4 out of the 11 AfRSG-rated key white rhino populations in the world and a further 17 of the 35 AfRSG-rated important white populations occurred on private land. One of the five key populations was a national park linked to adjacent private game reserves.
In contrast to the pattern with white rhinos, there are many black rhinos on private land in Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe that are managed on a custodianship basis for the state (as opposed to being privately owned). In 1999, the 11 AfRSG-rated key populations of black rhinos included 2 Zimbabwean conservancies and 1 Kenyan sanctuary; with a further 5 important custodianship populations. From 1997 to 1999, numbers of black rhino managed by the private sector on a custodianship basis increased from 394 to 483.
Black rhino numbers have in general declined markedly over the last decade on much of the communal land where they used to occur. At present, 17.64% of the south-western black rhinos and 2.04% of the eastern black rhinos are conserved on communal land. Overall, 5.18% of Africa's black rhinos were found on communal land in 1999, compared with only 0. 19% of Africa's white rhinos. In South Africa and Kenya, local area or municipal authorities run a limited number of reserves and conservation areas. The Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya is run by the local Narok and Trans Mara county councils, while in Tanzania the Ngorongoro Area Authority manages Ngorongoro and the surrounding area. South Africa also has seven small municipally owned and run parks that have a few white rhinos. In 1999 such municipal or county council or local-area-authority parks held 39 white rhinos and 42 black rhinos, accounting for about 0.62% of Africa's rhinos. All such black rhinos are of the eastern subspecies, making up 8.57% of this subspecies in the wild.

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