Baby boom in Zimbabwe signals hope for rhino growth
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While the US and Europe saw a slump in births in 2020, more than 200,000 babies were born when the lockdown was at its most restrictive in the UK. Luckily, in the Lowveld region of Zimbabwe, conservation was not on lockdown and 2020 saw a baby boom for rhinos.
Rhino numbers are not only on the increase in the area, with 17 new black rhino calves and two white rhino calves spotted during 2020, but poaching is down thanks to rangers’ dedication and your support.
Zimbabwe is home to the world’s fourth-largest black rhino population after South Africa, Namibia and Kenya, making the country an important frontier for conserving this Critically Endangered species. Between 2007 and 2009, nearly a quarter of the country’s rhinos were lost to poaching. However, thanks to the work of our conservation partner, the Lowveld Rhino Trust (LRT), the Lowveld region is now home to 90% of Zimbabwe’s total black rhino population, a huge increase from just 4% in 1990. Whilst the global black rhino population is slowly growing, poaching remains an ever-present threat. Without vigilant protection and monitoring, black rhinos could disappear from the wild.