Sudan, last male northern white rhino, dies in Kenya

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-43468066

by Jetroid • 8 years ago

245 69 8 years ago

bbc.co.uk

nkkollaw2• 8 years ago

Of coirse it's sad, but I'm more amazed by the fact that man can manage to wipe out a whole species for traditional medicice (which I assume doesn't work in this case?) and dagger handles.

majos• 8 years ago

Not sure why this comment is being downvoted. Wikipedia attributes poaching pretty much entirely to demand for rhino horn in "traditional Asian medicine".

Rhino horn can fetch tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram on the black market in Asia and, depending on the exact price, can be worth more than its weight in gold.

soundwave106• 8 years ago

Yeah, I'm not sure either. (The misspellings, perhaps?)

From what I've read, there has been some pretty decent progress in reducing demand for elephant ivory, which has a similar issue in Asia, due to various information campaigns. (https://www.economist.com/news/china/21678838-remarkable-pro...) Sadly, this seems to have not worked for the rhino.

jackhack• 8 years ago

I saw a billboard in central North Carolina which read "I am not medicine" or similar, with a sad-looking rhino closeup photo in the background.

Two thoughts on this: 1) Isn't this billboard in the wrong continent and language? North Americans in central NC are not the ones killing and consuming these endangered animals.

2) (cynically) Billboards are expensive. There must be money to be made in this misery. I guess we are ripe for knee-jerk guilt-trips and the donations that follow.

It disgusts me.

amelius• 8 years ago

Is cloning an option?

dagaci• 8 years ago

They will attempt to use IVF resurrect the species ..

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/20/last-mal...

bayesian_horse• 8 years ago

That's why they collected the tissue samples. But they are trying to perform IVF first.

cfontes2• 8 years ago

This is very sad but natural selection now is unfortunately like this now. Unless you are small and can eat human garbage or we care about your species in some extend (Cows, Pigs, Horses, Dogs, Birds, Cats and so on) you are going to become extinct in the next couple of hundred years. Which is depressing to say the least. Even if technology brings them back, it will be for zoos only for a very long time because the real problem is that their environment is gone, so it's not even worth it unless we have that problem fixed.

I am a bachelor in Biology besides the computer degree and this is something I perceive as a deep loss not because of this specific specimen but because of the trend it again confirms. We have modified the key features a species need to survive because of the way we are and big beautiful beasts like this are essentially doomed unless we change our ways, which I am very pessimist about.

I guess this is something we will need to get used to, it is going to happen more times in the future, our grand children might be the first ones to not see a live elephant or giraffe animals so common in cartoons and they toys will be like dinosaurs for them. It's terrible to think about it.

sbarre3• 8 years ago

This is not really from natural selection.

Rhinos have been killed by humans by the hundreds of thousands over the last 30 years.

There's nothing natural about that.

Sag0Sag0• 8 years ago

Humanity is not natural apparently?

dcousens• 8 years ago

I think it depends on where you draw the line for the word "natural". If you include human behaviour, it is natural, but yes, otherwise it is typically known as "artificial selection" in this context.

Ensorceled• 8 years ago

Yes, it is critical that we are pendantically correct in this matter. Alignment on the definition of natural selection is the only way to make sure we save the rest of the Rhinos.

ekianjo• 8 years ago

There's nothing natural about that.

What does natural mean then? It's not like they disappeared by some magical event or an asteroid falling on the face of the Earth.

mlcrypto• 8 years ago

Natural selection is the process by which the traits that are most suited to surviving reality get passed down. That's all there is to it when you don't sugar-coat it

gaius2• 8 years ago

For so-called “traditional medicine”. Barbaric, yet zero sanctions, boycotts, or any economic consequences really. And once all the rhinos, tigers etc are gone and they can’t do it anymore, only then will they realize it never worked in the first place! :-(

caf2• 8 years ago

On the plus side, the other subspecies, the southern white rhino was down to only a few hundred individuals a century ago, but is now estimated to have a population of 20,000.

sbarre3• 8 years ago

The death of a (sub-)species.

We are destined to see more of this in our lifetimes, given how some people treat the natural world and our animal kingdom neighbours..

Other sub-species of rhinos, and even elephants, may not be far behind.

But we are making progress. In the 1980s, it is estimated that over 600,000 elephants were killed by poachers in less than 10 years.

We are now "down" to 20,000 killed per year by poaching. But sadly, this is still more than are actually born in a year, so it's not quite enough progress, and there is still much work to be done.

If you feel like supporting conservation and education efforts to help with this progress, here are a few places to start:

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust[0], The Amboseli Trust[1], Save the Rhino[2], and of course the World Wildlife Fund[3] if you want to support conservation in a broader sense.

0: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

1: https://www.elephanttrust.org/

2: https://www.savetherhino.org/

3: https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=...

ajeet_dhaliwal• 8 years ago

I was at the Natural History Museum in London on Saturday and astounded to learn the Mastodon was still around 13,000 years ago. I started looking online and realized that many of these animals I thought were super prehistoric are more recent that I thought, including the Mammoth (present until 4,500 years ago). The plaque suggested a bunch of reasons for the Mastodon extinction but one of them included hunting. We (our species) have been at this for a long time. Perhaps if the Earth was far larger they would stand a better chance.

aunty_helen• 8 years ago

For a more recent example, the Moa of New Zealand went extinct only a few hundred years after human arrival.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-...

vincnetas• 8 years ago

Also the famous Dodo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo

wingspar• 8 years ago

More recently, the North American passenger pigeon. Billions to extinct in 19th century... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon

gaius2• 8 years ago

Yes, Mammoths were alive at the time the Pyramids were built. Kinda mind-blowing.

sametmax• 8 years ago

I always though Giants animals have been on earth longer than we though and were the sources of our legend such as as dragons or sea monsters.

peterwwillis• 8 years ago

Another interesting one gone: Aurochs, larger ancestors of domestic cattle, died out in 1627. They were famous in Greek myths and used in Roman arenas. Elasmotherium, a sort of furry rhino, died out about 10,000 years ago, and could have inspired tales of Unicorns or other mythical beasts. Aepyornis - The Elephant Bird (9.8ft tall, 880lbs) died out in the 11th century, and Dromornis was even taller. Quagga, a subspecies of Zebra, went extinct in the 19th century.

Many animals may have been spared extinction by humans due to the fact that the western world thought they were myths, until late in the second millennium AD when furthering exploration brought back evidence of their existence. Among them: tigers, komodo dragons, giant squid, giraffe, pandas, gorillas.

lainga• 8 years ago

Yuval Noah Hariri's Sapiens devotes several pages to the extinctions of various prehistoric species in the Americas and Australia, and how they all seem to curiously line up with the first signs of human migration. Only African species evolved around early apes and hominids, and learned to fear their wiles. Our current mass extinction is rivaled by the spear-y wave of death that followed humans' advance out of Africa.

olliej• 8 years ago

Tasmanian tiger is still one I’m sad about. The video of the last one in a zoo makes me so sad :(

New Zealand also has some horrifying stories (the last group of a thought to be extinct bird was killed by a lighthouse owners cat after he’d sent one to be identified. I hate cats.)

tosser0004• 8 years ago

With Sub-saharan Africa’s population alone projected to rise by 3.5 billion to over 4.5 billion by the end of the century I share your concern. Europe and North American need to begin planning now for dealing with the migrant crisis which is just now in its very earliest stages. The environmental impact in Africa would otherwise be deviatating.

I have to expect upwards of a billion people from this region will need to migrate to Europe and probably an even higher number to the Americas.

lukev• 8 years ago

I don't understand why to you, population rise implies migration.

Africa (currently) has a lower population density than Europe or Asia. We know people can sustainably live at much higher densities than Africans currently do.

The drivers behind migration are global inequality and conflict. If you want to reduce migration, start there. Isolationism and closed borders will only ultimately lead to more humanitarian crises, and more migration pressure.

robbick• 8 years ago

The UN would suggest your numbers are correct but for Africa as a whole not just Sub-saharan africa https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFi...

seba_dos1• 8 years ago

Having just read Douglas Adams' "Last Chance to See" with its part about northern white rhinos, it's especially disheartening to read this now...

yohann305• 8 years ago

Can't wait for space colonization where we'd create an Earth-like planet with all organisms, but humans.

Jetroid3• 8 years ago

You'd still need some human control, to stop invasive species (eg the Kudzu vine comes to mind) from killing off other species.

jdmichal• 8 years ago

Yes. Nature is not static. If your goal is a static status quo, that will still require human intervention.

undersuit• 8 years ago

Human control is the exact reason why Kudzu is an invasive species.

bornonline1• 8 years ago

Do you understand how useless humans are?

majani2• 8 years ago

I've said this before on this forum, but I'll reiterate it here since it's relevant. As a Kenyan I can advise if there are any endangered species indigenous to Kenya that you would like to see, your best bet is to just go see them before they die out. The most prominent poacher in our country is the president's mother, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, and she's been poaching relentlessly ever since the current president's father was our President[1]. No media company will talk about this if they want to retain their license to report in Kenya, but Google is your friend on this topic. Given this fact, I'd also advice well wishers to save their money donating to our conservation efforts, it's a pretty lost cause given the circumstances, unless you're the most glass half full type of guy. [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/elephant-appeal...

SEJeff• 8 years ago

Thanks for your comment (take your damned upvote!). My question for you: What can we do, if anything, to help conserve what is left in Kenya for future generations?

majani2• 8 years ago

Maybe educate the superstitious buyers that these animal parts are not magical. That might reduce the demand and therefore reduce the supply

helb• 8 years ago

Related link – NY Times article about Kenyatta family (including Mama Ngina Kenyatta, who is almost 85 now) being involved in poaching, from 1975: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/22/archives/elephants-are-de...

52-6F-62• 8 years ago

They were also just implicated in the Cambridge Analytica story from Channel 4.

wunderlust• 8 years ago

The one bit of positivity I get out of this is, well at least white rhino poaching is over.

(Unless they're revived by cloning, as one person mentioned, in which case either they remain in captivity or poaching continues.)

adamnemecek• 8 years ago

You guys should consider donating to the International Anti-Poaching Foundation[0][1] which fights these poachers. The founder, Damien Mander[2], is an Australian ex spec-ops sniper who is using his military experience to train the park rangers since they, unlike the poachers, tend to be poorly equipped and trained as well as understaffed.

There is also the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust[3][4] which takes care of elephant and rhino orphans (most of them are orphans due to poaching). For $50 a year, you can become a sponsor of a particular animal and they'll send you photos and updates about how your sponsored animal is doing. You can for example sponsor this little fella [5][6].

[0] http://www.iapf.org/en/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Anti-Poaching_Fo...

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Mander

[3] http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sheldrick_Wildlife_Trust

[5] http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp...

[6] http://instagram.com/p/sigT3IAUKb

Tomminn• 8 years ago

Seems kinda crazy to me that you'd put down a rhino that is the last male of its kind. Even one in pain. Why not induce a coma, and keep those gametes alive?

birksherty• 8 years ago

Why should an animal have to go through that, when it's human who caused it? He does not deserve that.

pvaldes• 8 years ago

Indian Javan Rhino. Extinct around 1920

Vietnamese Javan Rhino. Extinct 2010

Northern White Rhino. Functionally extinct 2018

Sumatran Rhino. 100 animals remaining.

Javan Rhino. 63 animals remaining in a single population. None of them on zoos.

Sudan, last male northern white rhino, dies in Kenya

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