This week the bad news was made official. The Western Black Rhino has become extinct in the wild as was confirmed by the leading conservation group, The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). There are also two other subspecies of rhinoceros that are extinct or close to meeting the same fate. The Northern White Rhino of central Africa is now "possibly extinct" in the wild. The Javan Rhino found in Vietnam is most"probably extinct" after poachers killed the last animal there in 2010. A small but declining population of these Javan Rhinos still survive on the Indonesian island of Java.
These Rhinos have been driven to extinction due the poaching of their horns which almost always ends up in the death of the Rhino. Their horns are desired by the Chinese culture because of their superstitious and false beliefs that they contain some magical, medicinal for ailments ranging from impotence to the cure for cancer. Scientists from all over the world have spoken out against these ridiculous Asian beliefs and have pointed out that the horns are simply made of keratin the same as human fingernails. But the Chinese continue to covet these horns and will pay astronomical amounts of money to poachers to get them for them.
The IUCN has suggested that both the Western Black Rhino and the Northern White Rhino could have ended up with very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented. It is imperative that these kind of measures must be strengthened now by specifically managing habitats in order to improve breeding performance thereby preventing other rhinos from fading into extinction. In the past, other species of Rhinos have been brought back from the brink of extinction through specific breeding programs such as the Southern White Rhino.
Until the Chinese realize the error of their ways through education or ecomonic measures against them, protection efforts must continuously be applied and improved to fight the war against poaching. Other efforts are being taken such as the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project in South Africa which relocated 19 critically-endangered black rhinos from the Eastern Cape Province to the Limpopo Province some 1,500 kilometres away. These Rhinos were flown by helicopter to their new home. (See video below).
The fate of these Rhino species is a sad one and a very black mark against the greed of certain populations of mankind. Humans were meant to be the stewards of the animals on Earth not their executioners to the point of extinction.
These Rhinos have been driven to extinction due the poaching of their horns which almost always ends up in the death of the Rhino. Their horns are desired by the Chinese culture because of their superstitious and false beliefs that they contain some magical, medicinal for ailments ranging from impotence to the cure for cancer. Scientists from all over the world have spoken out against these ridiculous Asian beliefs and have pointed out that the horns are simply made of keratin the same as human fingernails. But the Chinese continue to covet these horns and will pay astronomical amounts of money to poachers to get them for them.
The IUCN has suggested that both the Western Black Rhino and the Northern White Rhino could have ended up with very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented. It is imperative that these kind of measures must be strengthened now by specifically managing habitats in order to improve breeding performance thereby preventing other rhinos from fading into extinction. In the past, other species of Rhinos have been brought back from the brink of extinction through specific breeding programs such as the Southern White Rhino.
Until the Chinese realize the error of their ways through education or ecomonic measures against them, protection efforts must continuously be applied and improved to fight the war against poaching. Other efforts are being taken such as the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project in South Africa which relocated 19 critically-endangered black rhinos from the Eastern Cape Province to the Limpopo Province some 1,500 kilometres away. These Rhinos were flown by helicopter to their new home. (See video below).
The fate of these Rhino species is a sad one and a very black mark against the greed of certain populations of mankind. Humans were meant to be the stewards of the animals on Earth not their executioners to the point of extinction.
There seems to be a Rhino poaching syndicate in South Africa. They are being wiped out at a rapid rate.
These greedy bastards even kill dehorned rhrinos to get the tiny bit of horn remaining. it's disgusting!
so sad