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Nature & Environment

Western black rhino goes extinct

By T.K. Randall
June 11, 2013 · Comment icon 56 comments

Image Credit: CC 3.0 Brocken Inaglory
The species has been officially declared extinct due to no reported sightings over the last seven years.
In another blow to conservationists, the western black rhino appears to have been completely wiped out thanks to non-stop efforts by poachers to kill the animals for their horns. The rhinos had lived in southern parts of Africa for thousands of years. It is thought that some of the rangers at national parks charged with protecting the animals were receiving handouts in exchange for allowing poachers access to the rhinos.

Rhino horns are particularly valued in countries such as Vietnam where they are used in tonics to treat everything from hangovers to cancer. In some Asian countries, the horns are seen as a status symbol and play an important role in superstitious beliefs.
The western black rhino, a subspecies of the black rhino, was declared extinct last month by The International Union for Conservation of Nature, as no sightings of the creature have been reported since 2006. The blame rests entirely on us humans, or more specifically, on the greed of humans.


Source: Eastern Echo | Comments (56)

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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #47 Posted by aquatus1 12 years ago
Ivory, aquatus. Ivory. The differences in the composition between rhino horns would reject your blabber that the supply of this particular material didn't go to zero. But it did. You're never going to get another horn from a western black rhino again and the other rhinos don't have the same horns. If you're going to have this much of a problem with the word I use then I have to have a problem with your lack of understanding of the end of the supply of this horn forever. Are you so blindly loyal to your own inerrancy that you refuse to even make the most cursory check prior to posting? How many... [More]
Comment icon #48 Posted by Yamato 12 years ago
Are you so blindly loyal to your own inerrancy that you refuse to even make the most cursory check prior to posting? How many times do you have to make yourself look foolish before you learn to think first and speak later? Double-check your claims--you know what, at this point, I would be ecstatic if you just single-checked them. Take the 30 seconds a google search would take to figure out why you become a laughing stock when you talk about "ivory" and about how the horns are different from species to species. In other words, stop making s*** up. You have no credibility left to bluff with. No,... [More]
Comment icon #49 Posted by aquatus1 12 years ago
How can I say this any more simply and get your stubborn ignorant brain to understand once and for all? Not all rhino horns are alike. The supply of this rhino has gone to zero. A 30-second search would teach you that fact and stop you from denying it and dribbling nonsense about me in reply. No, you can't go to other animals to get more supply because the composition of those horns is different. Your initial point you tried so hard complaining about is moot and I give you no chance of acknowledging that because you're too full of yourself. Stop making up s***. Rhino horns are all made of the ... [More]
Comment icon #50 Posted by Yamato 12 years ago
Why not? Because I have no evidence not to. You have no problem assuming anything else with no evidence. Heck, you have no problem assuming things when evidence directly contradicting you is presented Like? Are you...no, never mind, of course you aren't kidding, you just assumed you knew and didn't bother checking before talking. Checking the OP article would be the hint necessary to observe I'm not assuming. Extinction would be the greatest evidence that enforcement of the law is inadequate. Tanzania recently (a few years ago) repealed their "shoot on sight" standing orders Conferring with wh... [More]
Comment icon #51 Posted by aquatus1 12 years ago
And that's the end of the ball game. On the bright side, I don't consider you to be willfully ignorant.
Comment icon #52 Posted by Yamato 12 years ago
And that's the end of the ball game. On the bright side, I don't consider you to be willfully ignorant. I willfully ignore your opinion of me.
Comment icon #53 Posted by aquatus1 12 years ago
Fine with me. Just like everything else you ignore, it doesn't go away, nor is it shown to be incorrect.
Comment icon #54 Posted by Lobotomy 12 years ago
and agree with Red, stop buying Chinese and all Asian products! You can find Made in the USA now, just look on Etsy and in stores. Yes and that's just a racist comment because what have Japan done with regards to this issue? Ziltch! Also it's so easy to criticise developing countries for the destruction of their natural habitat when it's the very 'globalization' that the West has imposed and promotes that is the main perpetrator, besides the fact that here in the UK for instance we had already obliterated the native wolves, boars (which had to be reintroduced from Eastern Europe), bears and ot... [More]
Comment icon #55 Posted by redhen 12 years ago
Yes and that's just a racist comment because what have Japan done with regards to this issue? Ziltch! My comments are not to be construed as racist. My take on this is problem is one of superstition. Yup, Europeans and Americans are superstitious too, just witness the prevalence of astrology and other pseudo-sciences. They even exploit animals for it, I'm sure "lucky" rabbit feet key chains are still a popular commercial item. But these Westerners are not causing the extinction of species because of superstition, that's my point. Also it's so easy to criticise developing countries for the dest... [More]
Comment icon #56 Posted by Mindscanner 12 years ago
I think human should start finding some other options to cure certain ailments, surely there would be lot of botanical compositions they could use to replace substance coming from poor animals. As I know Medicine is not always the best option to cure the ailments. There should be much heavier penalty for using and distributing the items. Beside who ever could afford that price, certainly are not poor people, above them there is always on higher position to collect large profitable income with much less tax to pay in their operation. The greed behind all of this that gets me the most. IF I see ... [More]
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