The government of Tanzania said that the population of Rhinos in the country has jumped from 15 in 2014 to 167, and the number of elephants jumped from 43,330 to over 60,000 elephants.
Thanks to the poaching crackdown in Tanzania, the rhino and the elephant population have seen a huge jump.
The government is still continuously working to eradicate the poachers in the country who are considered as a serious threat.
The announcement was made by the director of presidential communications.
The announcement credited the efforts of President John Magufuli, who has helped protect natural resources in Tanzania.
President Magufuli plays a huge role in the fight against poaching in Tanzania.
Earlier this year, Tanzania sentenced a Chinese woman, who is called the “Ivory Queen” to 15 years in prison after she was found guilty for poaching. It is reported that the Ivory Queen smuggled the tusks of over 350 elephants to Asia.
Tanzania has also set aside 32 percent of its total land area for conservation activities.
Mark Jones, the head of policy at the Wildlife Charity Born Free Foundation, said that there is no way the numbers went high through breeding and protection only as rhinos and elephants are known to be slow breeders.
Mark said, “This sounds like very good news but we should view these figures with caution until there’s independent verification.”
He added, “There’s no way that has occurred through breeding and protection alone … If there’s been a clampdown on poaching in Tanzania, it may be that some have moved in.”
In the announcement that was made by the government of Tanzania, the numbers that they showed did not align with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
CITES only listed 133 black rhinos in Tanzania in 2015, and it is reported that 11 rhinos were killed between 2006 to 2015.
It is reported that over 1,000 rhinos are killed each year in South Africa, and this has been the main reason why the world lost 95% of its rhinos.