Black Rhino is now extinct

Written by Makenzie Head ~ Mulitmedia Journalist

Thursday, 01 December 2011

The Western Black Rhino species lost the battle against time recently, slipping from the critically endangered list. The rhino was declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species on Nov. 10. The Western Black Rhino has not been seen in Western Africa since 2006.

This extinction, like many others, was due to excessive poaching. CEO of Pilanesberg Wildlife Trust, Andrew Jackson said of the animal “…they are poached for their horns, they are still used in traditional Eastern Medicine and recently there has been a massive upsurge in rhino poaching in South Africa that is thought to be connected to a high ranking Vietnamese Government Official declaring that he was cured from cancer by taking rhino horn.”

Students on BYUH campus who are involved in maintaining nature in all its beauty and splendor mourned for the loss and reacted to the purpose for the poaching of the rhinos “It is a sad moment.” Agnel Peter, a senior from India studying Business Management, about the extinction of the Western Black Rhino, “I had the chance to look at the magnificent rhino on a safari.”

While many consider the extinction of this majestic animal as something that does not affect them, the extinction of an entire species can be detrimental to the food chain and have an almost domino-like affect on the products imported from that area of the world. “Yesterday I taught a lesson on the food chain. We talked about how if some animal goes extinct it affects all the animals around it—so it could be a bad thing,” said Lacee Roberts a senior in Elementary Education from Ohio, when she was asked her opinion on the issue.

Joseph Batte, a Senior in pre-professional biology from Uganda has also had a first hand experience with the rhino, he said; “The first time I saw a rhino was back home on a trip for my Biology class. It was really cool.“

He continued, “Its kind of sad how wildlife is disappearing, animals are being killed and people don’t really care that much. It would be a good thing to try and conserve it, but it’s hard because a lot of the things that destroy nature help humans so we have to find a compromise. Maybe if we could conserve some places and restrict development there that might be good,” said Batte.