According to the latest update of the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature –IUCN, for its acronym in English–, the black rhino in West Africa –Diceros bicornis longipesis officially extinct.
Despite conservation programs, currently 25 percent of mammals are threatened with extinction; including the subspecies of the white rhinoceros in Central Africa and the northern soft rhinocerose –Ceratotherium simum cottoni–, which have been classified as Possibly Extinct in the Wild.
Studies have shown that the rhinoceros possibly became extinct because of illegal hunting, lack of support and political will for conservation projects in their habitatsand the increase in the search for rhino horns for commercial purposes.
For Jane Smart, Director of the IUCN World Species Programme:
This update offers good and bad news about the status of many species around the world. We know for sure that conservation works if it is executed in a timely manner; But without determined political will coupled with specific efforts and resources, the wonders of nature and the services it offers could be lost forever. […] Humans are stewards of the Earth and have a responsibility to protect the species that share our environment,» says Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. «Both in the case of the western black rhinoceros and of the northern white rhinoceros, the situation could have been very different had the suggested conservation measures been applied. These measures need to be strengthened now, especially with regard to habitat management, in order to improve reproductive performance and prevent the extinction of other rhinos, such as the Javan rhinoceros.
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