Guwahati: The greater one-horned rhinoceros is showing a strong recovery, with its global population now estimated at 4,075, up from fewer than 100 animals in the early 1900s, according to the International Rhino Foundation’s State of the Rhino 2026 report.
Found only in India and Nepal, the species is now listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Its recovery is among the brighter developments in the global rhino conservation picture, although growing pressure on habitat is emerging as a major challenge.
For Assam, which holds about 80% of the world’s greater one-horned rhinos, the figures are particularly significant. Kaziranga has more than 2,600 rhinos, while Manas has an estimated 40–50.
Assam also recorded zero known rhino poaching in 2025, only the second time since the 1970s that the state has achieved the feat. Nepal also reported zero known rhino poaching during the year.
The turnaround is stark compared with the mid-2010s, when Assam lost nearly 30 rhinos to poaching in a single year. Improved surveillance, intelligence gathering, coordination between enforcement agencies and stronger protection on the ground have helped bring poaching down.
The challenge is now habitat
With rhino numbers recovering, conservation efforts are increasingly shifting from protection against poaching to ensuring that the animals have enough suitable habitat.
Manas is one example. Between 2006 and 2021, 22 greater one-horned rhinos were translocated to the park, while another 20 orphaned or injured animals were rewilded. The population is now breeding, with females born in Manas subsequently producing calves.
But successful translocation depends on more than moving animals. Grasslands, water sources and suitable habitat have to be maintained.
At Manas, conservation teams have cleared invasive vegetation from 123 acres of degraded grassland, involving 5,600 man-hours of work.
Dudhwa offers another example. Four greater one-horned rhinos were moved into fully wild grassland in March 2026, taking the park’s free-ranging population to eight.
West Bengal has also recorded growth. Jaldapara added 44 rhinos and Gorumara nine in their latest surveys. Together, the two parks have recorded a 50% increase in their greater one-horned rhino population over the past decade.
Not all rhinos are recovering
The gains made by the greater one-horned rhino stand in contrast to the situation facing some of its relatives.
The global rhino population is estimated at about 26,700, but the five species have followed very different trajectories.
Black rhinos have risen to an estimated 6,788, more than doubling from the severe lows of the 1990s. White rhinos remain the most numerous at 15,752, although their numbers have declined in recent years, largely because of poaching in South Africa.
Among Asian rhinos, the contrast is particularly sharp. The greater one-horned rhino is recovering, while the Javan rhino, with about 50 animals, remains critically endangered. The Sumatran rhino is in an even more precarious position, with an estimated 34–47 individuals remaining in Indonesia.
The report warns that the Javan rhino could potentially disappear within the next five decades. The discovery of five new calves in recent years, however, provides some hope for the species.
For the greater one-horned rhino, the latest numbers underline how far conservation has come, but also where the next challenge lies.
Keeping poaching under control will remain important, but expanding populations will require more secure grasslands, functioning ecosystems and suitable areas into which rhinos can move.
For Assam, where the bulk of the world’s greater one-horned rhino population survives, the task is increasingly about protecting the strongholds while creating enough healthy habitat for the population to continue growing.