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Asian rhinos

About the species

Asia supports three species of rhino: the greater one-horned rhino, Javan rhino and Sumatran rhino.

The greater one-horned rhino or Indian rhino is a great success story in rhino conservation. With the implementation of strict protection measures, its numbers have recovered from fewer than 200 earlier in the 1900s to around 2,500 today. In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature revised its listing of the greater one-horned rhino from ‘endangered’ to a less-threatened category of ‘vulnerable’.

The other two species are listed as ‘critically endangered’. The Sumatran rhino is the only Asian rhino with two horns, and is the smallest of all rhino species. It has suffered a rapid rate of decline, mainly because of poaching, with numbers decreasing by more than 50% since 1994. The Javan rhino is the rarest species, with fewer than 60 individuals surviving in the wild and none in captivity.

Challenges and threats

The poaching of rhinos and the illegal trade in their horns have been the main threats to all the Asian rhinos populations despite an international ban on such trade. The quantity of rhino horn entering the illegal trade has increased significantly since 2000, indicating ongoing market demand and organised trade routes to the Middle and Far East. Rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicine, and to make dagger handles in the Middle East.

Asian rhinos have also suffered from loss of their rainforest and marshland habitat, mainly due to human settlement, logging and expanding agriculture. They now survive mainly in small, isolated areas, thereby increasing the risk of inbreeding.

WWF in action

WWF works with governments, local communities and other NGOs to improve the conservation and management of rhinos by restoring and connecting suitable areas of habitat, improving biological monitoring, sharing expertise, building the skills and capacity of people working with rhinos, implementing proactive anti-poaching measures, reducing consumer demand for rhino horn and its derivatives, and improving management of rhino horn stockpiles to stop the illegal trade.

Another critical aspect of our strategy is to work with governments and other NGOs to translocate rhinos from well-populated areas to suitable habitats that are in need of more breeding adults. We also work to update policy frameworks, legislation and law enforcement measures to benefit rhinos and their habitats.

How you can help

• Adopt a rhino

Useful links

• Illegal wildlife trade
• Visit the CITES website
• More about Asian rhinos

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