BLACK RHINO

Critically Endangered

POPULATION

Large-scale poaching saw black rhino populations plummet from around 70,000 in 1970 to just 2,410 in 1995. Today, thanks to sustained conservation effort, approximately 6,788 remain.

THE THREAT

Habitat loss, climate change, and the illegal horn trade remain the greatest threats. Poaching continues to spike; 91 rhinos were killed in South Africa in just three months in early 2025. Most remaining populations are small and fragmented, increasing the risk of inbreeding.

ABOUT THIS PAINTING

"I painted this rhino with its head low, lost in its own world, completely unaware of the forces closing in around it. Highlighting the horn felt important because something that beautiful shouldn’t be a death sentence."

THE HOPE

Conservation bonds, anti-poaching programmes, and community conservancies have helped stabilise numbers in Kenya and Zimbabwe, offering fragile hope for continued recovery.

LEARN MORE

→ savetherhino.org

→ rhinos.org

Art is the lens. Conservation is the reason.

from 70,000 to 6,700.

conservation works, but only if we keep going.