Record Number of Rhinos Die from Poaching in 2014

As the poaching crisis continues to run rampant across South Africa, a record number of rhinos consequentially died in 2014, highlighting the crucial need to step up efforts to tackle this illegal hunting and protect an iconic species.

Hopefully an international meeting in Botswana in March will decide on immediate action against illegal poaching. Otherwise, many say that the rhino could be extinct by the end of the decade.

Back in September, 2014 was on track to becoming the worst poaching year to date, and now our worst fears have been realized. Approximately 1,215 of these mammals were killed without a permit in 2014, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - that's about 100 rhinos a month. This surpasses the previous record of 1,004 rhinos killed in 2013 by 21 percent, and represents a 93-fold (9,300 percent) increase from the mere 13 killed in 2007 in South Africa.

"We are fast reaching the tipping point for the future viability of rhinoceros," said Jason Bell, Southern Africa director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

One species in particular, the white rhino, cannot afford to wait. One of the last northern white rhinos in the world died last month, leaving only five remaining, all in captivity. And with mating interventions (e.g. artificial insemination) among the breeding population unsuccessful, the extinction of this species seems inevitable.

"Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to the greed of the human race," the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, which holds the last of the white rhinos, said in a statement.

Several rhino subspecies are listed as "critically endangered" on the IUCN Red List - including black rhinos and Asia's Sumatran and Javan rhinos. (Scroll to read on...)