Poaching Trims Rhino Herds in Zimbabwe

Poachers killed 135 endangered black rhinoceroses in a remote northern nature reserve in the last two years, leaving only 15 survivors, conservationists said Wednesday.

The Zambezi Society, an independent conservation group, said that rangers at the 580-square-mile Matusadona National Park spent the last month on an operation to dehorn surviving animals. They found just 15. It was the first accurate count since 1990, when at least 150 rhinos were found there.

Zimbabwe has an estimated 1,000 black rhino, down from nearly 3,000 since poaching began in earnest in 1984.