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Loading...Western Black Rhino Declared Extinct
Sad news today: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared the Western Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes) of Africa extinct. Even worse, two other subspecies of rhinos are also close to becoming extinct. The Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) of central Africa has been declared “possibly extinct” in the wild and the Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is now “probably extinct” in Vietnam.
In 2010, poachers killed the last Javan Rhino outside of Java. The animal was found dead in April 2010 with a bullet in its leg and its horn removed in Vietnam in Cat Tien National Park; an analysis of 22 dung samples affirmed the sad truth, that it was the last of its kind in Vietnam. The Indonesian island of Java still has a small but declining population.
Rhinos have been targeted by poachers for their horns which are believed to have medicinal and other properties, such as curing cancer, in traditional Eastern medicine. Says Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission:
“They had the misfortune of occurring in places where we simply weren’t able to get the necessary security in place.
“You’ve got to imagine an animal walking around with a gold horn; that’s what you’re looking at, that’s the value and that’s why you need incredibly high security.”
The IUCN blamed a number of factors for the Western Black Rhino’s becoming extinct, while noting that, had conservation efforts been implemented, this could have been avoided. But a “lack of political support for conservation efforts in many rhino habitats,” as well as international organized crime groups that have targeted the rhino, commercial poaching and an increase in demand around the world for rhino horns have all contributed to the species’ decline.
Just as worrisome, the IUCN says that a quarter of all mammals are now at risk of extinction, according to its updated Red List of endangered species which includes more than 61,900 animal and plant species. Included on the list are Tarzan’s chameleon (Calumma tarzan), the limbless skink (Paracontias fasika) and the Chinese water fir, once found throughout China and Vietnam.
On a far more positive note that highlights the value of conservation programs, the Southern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) and the Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus) have been brought back successfully from extinction. At the end of the 19th century, fewer than 100 Southern White Rhinos were believed to be alive, but now their numbers are thought to be over 20,000. Przewalski’s Horse was last found in the wild in 1996. Thanks to a captive breeding program, its numbers are now over 300.
Related Care2 Coverage
Wild Rhinos Get GPS Implants To Deter Poachers
Rhino Poaching in Africa Up 2,000%
Rhino Horn Powder Offers No Health Benefits
Read more: eastern medicine, endangered species, Przewalski's Horse, rhino horn, rhinoceros, rhinoceros horn, vietnam, Western Black Rhino, wildlife, wildlife conservation
Photo by ZooPro via Wikimedia Commons
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Well, from only knowing about this through this article, it seems the disorderly conduct was because…
This is an outrage against common decency, and then to criminalise the person speaking out against it…
Oops, I meant Women AND female children :)
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91 comments
+ add your ownThis is awful. I am really saddened by this news.
This is absolutely disgusting and appalling. What a senseless waste. No concern for life. For absolutely no reason. This sickens me.
Very very sad...
We are killing our world and what's in it bit by bit. Its not slowly its at an alarming rate!!
Thank you for sharing.
With the exception of the Yangtze River dolphin, there is one similarity in the extinction of these animals.......European expansion. It seems that we killed most of the animals,and while we are conservation minded now, we weren't when we needed to be, and now it's too late. We are doing the same things with elephants and other big game animals, we killed them in the millions and now want to blame the Chinese, when it was us who killed so many of them that it made their populations unsustainable.
How horrible.
I believe it was back in the '80s when author Douglas Adams rallied to help save the rhinos by climbing Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume to raise money for the cause. Their numbers were in trouble back then. This has been going on far far too long and now we're starting to declare them extinct. How can we be losing this battle? I get that there will always be cruel and heartless people in this world, there is bad for every good. But I just feel like the good is becoming a minority. Or are we not fighting hard enough against those that would permanently damage this world?
Do the species known as "poachers" fear shoot to kill or death sentences? Because that is what it is going to take I am afraid, and maybe not even then.By the time a successful solution is found it will be too late for the Rhino, as well as many other species. Time for our Lord to make His return.
......Look honey that is a brontosaurus, and a tyrannosaurus and this species over here mommy actually saw in her youth, it was a rhinoceros..... Wow mommy you must be old.... No, not really we are just part of a species that lacks compassion and has no care for the future or the welfare of any other creature..... *sign* this news is upsetting :( I would like to leave this planet in a state my children would be proud of.
I think we need to build a big ring around the planet, build our cities and giant malls there, it could even be solar powered and rotate to create an artificial gravity, then we can live in the ring and leave the Earth for the animals and for Mother Nature to heal... ok, I know, idealistic dreaming but it is the only thing that keeps me going when I read stories like this.
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