Until recently, the nation's rhino population had enjoyed a recovery and had been stable for a number of years.

But they also found that poaching and illegal trading in rhino horn were on the increase in South Africa, despite the introduction of a number of new anti-poaching measures.

Between 2006 and 2009, the report listed 210 rhinos as being illegally killed in South Africa, with a further 235 being poached in Zimbabwe.

"These two nations collectively form the epicentre（震中，震源） of an unrelenting（不屈不挠的，不松懈的） poaching crisis in southern Africa," stated Tom Milliken, a Traffic researcher.

Traffic and IUCN added that Asian species, including Sumatran and Javan rhinos - found in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam - were also a cause for concern.

"Sumatran and Javan rhino range countries need to increase efforts to better assess the current status of many of their rhino populations," observed Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, chairman of the IUCN Asian rhino specialist group.

He called for enhanced protective measures, such as preventing the loss of rhino habitat and better "biological management", in order to ensure that the remaining rhinos had the best possible chance of survival in the future.

However, the report concluded that some nations had taken considerable steps to improve protection measures.

"Nepal, in particular, seems to have successfully addressed a serious poaching crisis," it observed.

But it warned that the growing market for rhino horns in Asia, primarily for medicinal use, meant that all nations had improve their efforts to protect the threatened species.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species places the African black rhino (Diceros bicornis) in the critically endangered category.

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