Abstract

In the past decade, poachers have increasingly hunted and killed South African white rhinoceroses, despite efforts to protect them. If the killing continues at this rate, these rhinos will soon go extinct. We created a model that took both human actions and rhino survival in the wild into account in order to test which scenarios resulted in saving this endangered species. We found that there is a way to save rhinos from extinction – but it requires combating the international mafias that buy and sell rhino horns as well as developing legal job opportunities for people currently living in poverty near rhinos, so they don’t have to resort to poaching for money.