The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...
- WWF Global
- Adria
- Argentina
- Armenia
- AsiaPacific
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Borneo
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Caucasus
- Central African Republic
- Central America
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- European Policy Office
- Finland
The critically endangered black rhino is a flagship species for creating larger blocks of land for conservation purposes, resulting in wider protection of other wildlife too.
Black rhino were once widely distributed across Africa but the population plummeted from possibly 100 000 in the 1960s to fewer than 2 500 by the mid-1990s through poaching and habitat loss.
Since then, through intensive protection, black rhino numbers have increased to over 6000.
Approximately 2 000 black rhinos are now found in South Africa. However poaching remains an ever present threat and it is essential to increase numbers of the critically endangered animals as quickly as possible.
As part of a long-term strategy, WWF runs the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP) aimed at increasing growth rate and numbers of the critically endangered species.
We work with private and community landholders as well as state conservation agencies to identify large blocks of land on which to establish new black rhino populations.
WWF facilitates partnerships with landowners who have good black rhino habitat for creating new breeding populations. This often involves encouraging neighbouring landowners to remove the internal fences between them.
BRREP then coordinates the translocation of groups of up to 20 or more black rhino to these new sites. Managing for rapid population growth is an important element of conservation of critically endangered species.
WWF has been involved with conserving African rhinos, black and white, since the 1960s. The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project began in 2003.
-
Since 2003 the project has successfully created 15 new black rhino populations in South Africa, covering more than 340 000 hectares. Seven of the 15 sites have community involvement.
-
234 black rhino have been moved to these project sites.
-
There are more than 160 surviving calves on project sites to date.
-
Black rhino are a flagship species. Because of BRREP’s work, many landowners have consolidated smaller pieces of habitat into more ecologically viable blocks. Other critically endangered species which need large areas of land, such as wild dog, vultures and cheetah, also benefit.
-
In November 2019, the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project undertook its first cross-border translocation when a group of black rhinos was moved from South Africa to Malawi’s Liwonde National Park
