Western black rhino officially extinct

The western black rhino has officially become extinct, reports CNN. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which compiles an annual Red List of Threatened Species, this subspecies of the African rhinoceros was last spotted in 2006.

The two greatest threats facing the western black rhino, the report notes, have been increased poaching and a lack of conservation efforts. According to a statement released by the IUCN, rhino poaching shot up by almost 50 percent between 2011 and 2012, with nearly 2,400 killed by hunters across Africa since 2006.

“Well-organized and well-funded crime syndicates are continuing to feed the growing black market with rhino horn,” said Mike Knight, chairman of the Species Survival Commission's African Rhino Specialist Group, in the statement.

The IUCN, the world’s largest conservation network, also warned that Africa’s northern white rhino and Asia’s Javan rhino could face similar fates if preventive measures are not taken immediately.

Such conservation efforts have paid off in the past, the group says. The southern white rhino was threatened by extinction in the late 19th century, but conservation measures, which included the maintenance of their natural habitats, helped revive the dwindling population to an estimated 20,000.

The IUCN also cited the importance of political participation in making these efforts work.

"The rhino community is encouraged by the signing of a recent Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and Vietnam to address the rhino poaching epidemic as well as other conservation issues," said Simon Stuart, chair of the group's Species Survival Commission. "However, it needs to be reinforced with tangible government action on both sides."

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Rhino species extinct due to African rangers selling out

By Rose Carver

Last updated: 06/10/13 5:08pm

Another one of Earth’s majestic creatures has bitten the dust forever.

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.

The western black rhino, which lived for millennia in the southern part of Africa, was killed off by the ceaseless efforts of poachers. According to a May 7, 2013 article in Earth First News, the horns are desired because of a superstition in some countries that they can cure or prevent everything from cancer to a headache after a night of too much drinking.

According to the conservation site SavetheRhino.org, the rich elite in Asian countries have a high demand for the rhino horn as a symbol of wealth. The horn is ground up and used in a tonic drink. Traditional Chinese medicine has long used rhino horn to treat high fevers and convulsions, as well as clearing out toxins from alcohol consumption.

Affluent persons in Vietnam are the population who most frequently use rhino tonic as a hangover cure, but also to help treat cancer as cultural superstition recommends. According to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, evidence strongly suggests the promotion of claims of the miracle curative powers of the rhino horn is simply a contemptuous marketing ploy to increase the profitability of the trade. It seems pretty ridiculous for an entire species to die due to a false superstition and the profit that can be made by playing off fear.

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