AFRICA'S THREATENED RHINOS, a history of exploitation and conservation

350pp., illus., maps, hardback, Pelagic Publishing, London, 2025

ISBN: 9781784274542

This history covers over 3,000 years of human exploitation of rhinos, the politics, economics and cultural aspects of human conflict and coexistence with rhinos, and what can be done to stop the extinction of Africa’s black and white rhinos.

With only two females alive in a closely protected reserve in Kenya, the Northern White Rhino is on the brink of extinction. Poaching in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia has reduced the population of the Southern White Rhino to fewer than 20,000. The 6,000–6,500 Black Rhino are also threatened with extirpation everywhere except in parts of eastern and southern Africa. 

"Africa’s Threatened Rhinos is a sweeping and fascinating history of the continent’s rhinos and a clarion call for a rethink of failed wildlife trade policies." Ed Stoddard, Daily Maverick

"... this is a tour de force, a book of solid, well-researched conservation history, by a man who has read the literature, been in the field, and spoken to the right people. Anyone wanting all the facts on humanity’s exploitative relationship with these two magnificent African animals, and their descent towards extinction, will not find a better documentation and assimilation of the information than in here." Stephen Spawls, Journal of East African Natural History

British journalist, author and academic Keith Somerville (1957-2024) worked for the BBC World Service and was Professor at the Centre for Journalism at the University of Kent. A passionate conservationist, he was a member of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, a Fellow at the Zoological Society of London, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. In 2016 he was awarded the Marjan-Marsh Award by the Marjan Centre for the Study of War and the Non-Human Sphere and the Marsh Trust for his book Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa.