Wednesday, July 12, 2006

West African rhino population extinct

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) announced the West African black rhinoceros has likely gone extinct. This subspecies survived only in Cameroon, were a recent survey found no trace of it. The IUCN blames poaching. The population of the northern white rhino, in the Congo, is down to four known individuals and is likely to vanish as well.
Africa has two rhino species, white and black, divided into six subspecies - two of which are gone or likely to be.
The news is only partly offset by success in conserving and slowly increasing the numbers of other black rhinos. There has also been a spectacular recovery by the southern white rhino, from 50 to 14,000 individuals over the last century.

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