Saving Black Rhinos Through 'Radical Conservation'

An endangered black rhinoceros on the African savannah. (Credit: PicturesWild/Shutterstock) Today, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the black rhinoceros as "critically endangered." In the early 20th century, nearly 1 million black rhinos roamed the planet, but their numbers dipped below 3,000 by the late 1990s. Rhino horns can fetch up to $30,000 a pound, and rampant poaching is largely to blame for black rhinos' rapid decline. In recent years, the International Rhino Foundation has worked to restore the black rhino population by tracking, monitoring, rehabilitating and sometimes even relocating the animals.