THE number of black rhinos has increased from 162 in 2015 to 263 this year, the government has stated.

Dr Pindi Chana, the Natural Resources and Tourism minister, said in a message to mark World Rhino Day marked annually on September 22 that the rise in the rhino population stemmed from various interventions in combating poaching and illegal wildlife trade.

The government has been collaborating with stakeholders including the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to implement the ‘combatting poaching and illegal wildlife trade’ project, she said.

It also launched the national anti-poaching strategy for 2023-2033, focused on strengthening enforcement capacities, enhancing international collaboration, engaging with illegal trade destination countries to address the demand for such products, she said.

The strategy is also intended to promote advocacy and public awareness, supporting research and encouraging community engagement in the conservation and sustainable management of wildlife resources, the minister noted.

The increase in rhino numbers will boost the country’s tourism industry, she said, placing tourism contribution to the economy at 17 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 25 percent of total foreign exchange earnings.

Dr Hassan Abbasi, the permanent secretary, said the tourism sector has provided direct and indirect employment to over two million people, on the basis of Bank of Tanzania (BoT) quarterly report for June 2024.

Foreign earnings had reached $3.6bn, with international tourist visitations increasing to 1.9m in the past year, he said, while the minister urged the public to back the government’s conservation efforts in combating poaching.

The public needs to report poachers to local authorities and law enforcement agencies, she said, pointing at data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the African Rhino Specialist Group.

In the first decade of independence there were upwards of 100,000 rhinos in Africa, including white and black rhinos, with poaching cutting the numbers to 65,000 in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Only black rhinos are found in Tanzania, with their population standing at anywhere around 10,000 in the 1960s but due to relentless poaching up mid past decade their numbers decreased to less than 200.

The World Rhino Day is meant to raise awareness about the critical need to conserve the world's rhino species, highlighting on-going threats that rhinos face, including poaching, habitat loss and illegal wildlife trade driven by high demand for rhino horns.

It also encompasses the importance of rhinos in ecosystems and negative effects of their declining populations, he added.