“The dramatic drop in black rhino numbers – from an estimated 100,000 animals around the 1900s to fewer than 2,400 in the mid-1990s – is, sadly, well-recognised as one of the steepest declines of a large mammal species. However, the impressive recovery of the species” since then “is less well-known,” reports Save the Rhino.
“Dedicated conservation efforts ensured that by the end of 2023, there were 6,421 black rhinos across Africa. This success was achieved through innovative biological management, including re-introducing rhinos into their previous ranges, maintaining annual growth rates exceeding 5%, and meticulously managing rhinos across meta-populations.”
Bison have made a comeback in Europe. “In the 1920s, there were just 54 European bison, all in captive areas, after intense hunting over millennia, but thanks to rewilding efforts there are now around 10,000″ bison in Europe, “mostly in Russia and Belarus.”
Bengal tigers are making a comeback in Bangladesh, as are Asian antelopes and olive ridley turtles, even though Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely-populated nations, with nearly as many people per square mile as cities like Atlanta. (Bangladesh has more than 170 million people living in an area the size of Arkansas).
The snow leopard population has doubled in Kazakhstan. Mountain gorillas are making a comeback in the African country of Rwanda.
The critically-endangered Siberian crane is growing more numerous.
Wild horses recently returned to Kazakhstan after being absent for two hundred years.
