There are now three remaining recognised subspecies/genetic management clusters of Black Rhino occupying different areas of Africa. Strong support for this classification has been provided by independent analyses of different genetic data sets by different researchers using different analytical methods. See Taxonomic Notes for more details. A fourth recognised subspecies Diceros bicornis longipes once ranged through the savanna zones of central-west Africa but it is now considered to have gone Extinct in its last known habitats in northern Cameroon.

The other three more numerous subspecies are found in the eastern and southern African countries. Today putative D. b. bicornis range includes Namibia, southern Angola, western Botswana, and southwestern and southeastern South Africa (up to the Kei River), although today they occur only in Namibia (the stronghold) and South Africa with a sighting of one animal in Angola and unconfirmed reports of possibly another three animals.

Diceros b. michaeli was distributed from South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia, through Kenya into northern-central Tanzania and Rwanda. Its current stronghold is Kenya. Smaller but growing numbers occur in northern Tanzania. The single animal that survived in Rwanda has died. One important free-ranging subpopulation occurs outside its range in a private game reserve in South Africa. Contractually, these D. b. michaeli animals may only be translocated back to historical range and not elsewhere in South Africa. The repatriation of some of these animals back to four areas of former subspecies range in Tanzania commenced in 1997, with animals also subsequently going to found a subpopulation in Rwanda.

Diceros b. minor is believed to have occurred from southern Tanzania through Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique to the northern, northwestern and northeastern parts of South Africa (north of the Mtamvuna River). It also probably occurred in southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Angola, eastern Botswana, Malawi, and Eswatini. Today, its stronghold is South Africa and to a lesser extent Zimbabwe, with smaller numbers remaining in southern Tanzania. The South-central Black Rhino is now thought to be extinct in Angola and only one individual has been sighted in Mozambique since the 2008 IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) meeting. The subspecies has also been reintroduced to Botswana, Malawi, Eswatini and Zambia. Based on very small sample sizes, Moodley et al.'s (2017) results suggested that perhaps the original historical Black Rhino that used to occur in Zambia but which had been wiped out by poaching by 1995 might be better classified as D. b. michaeli rather than D.b.minor. However, on account of the small sample sizes, and given that the species was reintroduced with D. b. minor founders, and that historically Zambia had been considered D. b. minor range, and climate and habitats are more similar to some D. b. minor range; reviewers recommended that historical pre-1995 Zambian animals should continue to be allocated to D. b. minor for this Red List revision (as has historically been the case). With further data this may change in future. As there were still significant numbers of Black Rhinos in Zambia in the early 1970s, how these animals are allocated influences the D. b. minor subspecies Red List assessment which would change to Endangered under criteria A2 and A4. The D. b. michaeli assessment remains the same whether or not the historical animals are classified as D. b. minor or D. b. michaeli. 

Note: At the request of certain members and countries, the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) has a policy of not releasing detailed information (including maps) showing the whereabouts and names of all rhino subpopulations for security reasons. For this reason, only whole countries of occurrence are indicated on the range maps produced by the AfRSG.