Save the Rhino profiles the experts behind Asian rhino conservation
Ahead of World Rhino Day, Save the Rhino International has published a feature on the Asian Rhino Specialist Group: who we are, what we do, and where the three species stand.
Save the Rhino International has published a feature on the IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group, Asian Rhino Conservation: the experts behind rhino conservation in Asia, in the run-up to World Rhino Day.
The article explains how the group works as a volunteer body of specialists under the IUCN Species Survival Commission: assessing the status of the three Asian species, identifying emerging threats, compiling the IUCN Red List assessments, and producing the joint report with the African Rhino Specialist Group for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It notes the handover of the Chair from Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar to Dr Christy Williams, and recalls the 2013 Bandar Lampung Declaration in which the range states committed to growing their rhino populations by at least three per cent a year.
It also sets out the contrast that defines our work. The greater one-horned rhino has recovered from a few hundred animals a century ago to more than 4,000 today. The Javan rhino, at around 50 animals, and the Sumatran rhino, at 34 to 47, remain Critically Endangered.
Read the full feature on the Save the Rhino website: Asian Rhino Conservation: the experts behind rhino conservation in Asia.
Save the Rhino International is a partner of the AsRSG. Its Chief Executive, Jo Shaw, co-chairs the Partners of AsRSG working group.