Northern white rhino

How it was counted

Each animal is known, so the figure is a count and not an estimate, and the BioRescue consortium publishes it with no range. It covers the whole subspecies: 2 females, the only northern white rhinos alive.

A head count: each animal is known and counted, so 2 is the whole subspecies as of April 2026, not an estimate.

What moves it

The BioRescue consortium names hunting and poaching for the animals' horns, and war across much of the range (which ended protection work there), as pressures on the subspecies. It also reports that the remaining females cannot conceive naturally.

• hunting and poaching for their horns. Source: BioRescue.
• war across much of the home range, which ended protection work. Source: BioRescue.
• both remaining females unable to conceive naturally. Source: BioRescue.

Who is helping

The BioRescue consortium has carried out embryo transfers; some, into southern white rhino surrogates at Ol Pejeta, did not lead to a lasting pregnancy.

The next count

The count is updated on a birth or death. No date for the next update is known as of 12 November 2026.

Sources

• BioRescue consortium (Leibniz-IZW with Kenya Wildlife Service, Wildlife Research and Training Institute, Ol Pejeta, Safari Park Dvur Kralove, Avantea, Padua University) Last checked 12 November 2026.
• BioRescue Last checked 12 November 2026.

What changed

• 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, gone from the wild: 2 (Head count, April 2026).

Every change on the site