Rhino subspecies vanishing from the wild

The Western Black Rhino of Africa has been declared officially extinct, and two other subspecies of rhinoceros are close to meeting the same fate, a leading conservation group said Thursday.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said a recent reassessment of the Western Black Rhino had led it to declare the species extinct, adding that the Northern White Rhino of central Africa is now "possibly extinct" in the wild and the Javan Rhino is "probably extinct" in Vietnam, after poachers killed the last animal there in 2010.

A small but declining population of the Javan Rhino survives on the Indonesian island of Java, it added.

"A lack of political support and willpower for conservation efforts in many rhino habitats, international organized crime groups targeting rhinos and increasing illegal demand for rhino horns and commercial poaching are the main threats faced by rhinos," the group said in a statement accompanying the latest update of its so-called Red List of endangered species.

cont'd



http://green.yahoo.com/news/ap/20111110/ap_on_re_eu/endangered_species.html

my son did a report on the black rhino last year and we were stunned that there were only about 300 left.

how many species are we decimating annually? damn humans... :cry:

Scum, one & all.
:grr: