Southern white rhinos are widely known as a conservation success story. Their population grew from fewer than 100 individuals in the 1920s to 20,000 in 2012, mostly in South Africa.
This success was partially due to the inclusion of the private sector, which started in the 1960s when white rhinos were moved from their last remaining population in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and placed in other state reserves as well as on private land. In 1991 the Game Theft Act formalised conditions for private rhino ownership and use. Poaching pressure was low at the time, and the demand for rhinos by ecotourists and trophy hunters gave private landowners incentives to grow their rhino populations.
