As such, the species is extremely popular with poachers and hunters. The horn of a rhino is fabled to hold a range of mystic properties, from fertility to having the ability cure cancer. Reasons for the extinction of the species have been cited as poaching and a lack of conservation. It is estimated that there are as few as 4,000 black rhinos alive today. The western black rhino was last seen in 2006 in western Africa. The official declaration of extinction of the western black rhino comes just weeks after a Texas hunting group announced its intention to auction off a permit to hunt a black rhino, drawing harsh criticism from conservation groups. The western black rhino is a subspecies of the black rhino, which is currently listed as “critically endangered”. The organisation, which is the world’s largest conservation network, maintains a “red list” of animals which are in danger of becoming extinct. Click here to read a detailed article from Scientific American describing the history of the Western black rhino.Last week, the western black rhinoceros was officially declared extinct by the I nternational Union for the Conservation of Nature. Click here to read a good, related news story from Earth Touch, identifying why this extinction news has resurfaced two years later. For more information on the Western black rhino and the IUCN Red List. Click here for ways to get involved in supporting Save the Rhino. It is vital that we don’t allow the three other black rhino subspecies and the Southern white rhino to go extinct. With fewer rhinos surviving, their ability to reproduce will be reduced, driving populations into a downwards vortex towards extinction. If poaching continues to increase at the current rate, then overall black and white rhino numbers are predicted to go into decline in 2015-16, as natural deaths and poaching mortalities overtake the number of births per year. The black rhino species is Critically Endangered and looks to become more so, as rhinos are being slaughtered across Africa and Asia on the orders of consumers in Asia, particularly Vietnam, where the horn is coveted as a supposed cancer or hangover cure or as a symbol of one’s wealth. bicornis), found in Namibia and South Africa. minor), found in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa and the SouthWestern ( D.b. michaeli) found in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa the SouthCentral ( D.b. Now there are only three subspecies surviving: The Eastern black ( D.b. The Western black rhino was one of the – then four – subspecies of black rhino. Poaching killed off the last few stragglers. The last reporting sightings of the Western black rhino were even further back, in 2003, by which time its range had shrunk to small areas in Cameroon. The recommendation to do so was made back in 2006, but the Red List always waits for five years before changing the status of a subspecies or species, just in case any new evidence comes to light. The Western black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis longipes) was declared extinct back in 2011, when the IUCN Red List changed its status from Critically Endangered to Extinct.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |