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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rhino variety goes extinct

Poachers wiped out western black rhino

A black rhinoceros at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo nuzzles her young. The related western black rhino is officially extinct. (Associated Press)
Frank Jordans Associated Press

GENEVA – Lax anti-poaching efforts are to blame for the loss of the last wild specimens of western black rhinos, leading the rhinoceros subspecies to be declared officially extinct this week, conservationists said Friday.

Researchers estimate about 10 of the long-legged West African variety of black rhino survived in Cameroon until 2000.

Prized by poachers for their horns, which are used as trophies and in traditional medicine, the western black rhino now exists only in zoos.

“There were very limited anti-poaching efforts in place to save the animals, and anyone caught poaching was not sentenced, hence no deterrents were in place,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Its loss is significant because the western black rhino is genetically distinct from other rhino subspecies. Reintroducing animals born into captivity is costly and may be impossible, experts say.

Efforts to preserve other subspecies of black rhinos in Eastern and Southern Africa have been more successful, but there too poachers are taking their toll.

About 100,000 eastern black rhinos roamed the continent at the beginning of the 20th century, before their numbers plummeted to just 1,500 in the 1960s. Today, about 4,500 exist thanks to intesive breeding and conservation efforts.

But according to Robert Zingg, curator at Zurich Zoo, poachers have killed more than 350 animals in South Africa alone this year.

“The latest figures are anything but encouraging,” Zingg said. His zoo is part of a breeding program for eastern black rhinos.

On Thursday, IUCN released an updated list of endangered species, including the San Jose brush rabbit and the red crested tree rat, which was recently rediscovered after disappearing from sight for more than a century.