According to Namibia's Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MET), the country has lost 22 rhinos to poaching since the beginning of 2020. A total of 46 rhinos got illegally killed by poachers in Namibia in 2019, compared to 78 rhinos that lost their lives to poaching activities during 2018 (2017: 55; 2016: 61).
Namibia is home to the largest population of black rhino of the subspecies Diceros bicornis bicornis* in the world. Approximately 93% of the total population of this taxon are found in the country (as of 31 December 2020).
Namibia hosts a third of the entire remaining population of back rhino on the planet and the second largest white rhino population in the world after South Africa. The country also has the largest population of black rhinos in protected areas and the largest free roaming black rhino population in the world.
Between 2012 and 2018, the black rhino (diceros bicornis) population across Africa has grown at a modest annual rate of 2.5% from an estimated 4,845 to 5,630 animals in the wild, respectively.
* According to Wikipedia the subspecies Diceros bicornis bicornis (or southern black rhinoceros) was brought to extinction around 1850 while the subspecies Diceros bicornis occidentalis (or south-western black rhinoceros) has its today's strongholt in Namibia.
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