[Forum] Subespecie de rinoceronte negro extinguida

[forum at aicas.org]

Hola a todos,

Os envío unas notícias desalentadores sobre la subespecie de rinoceronte 
negro del oeste, que se cree extinguida en estos días, y sobre la subespecie 
de rino blanco de la que quedan, al parecer, solo 4 ejemplares en libertad. 
(Según IUCN).

Todo ello por el comercio de su cuerno,

Un saludo,

Raúl Cabrera.



"West African black rhino feared extinct

While four of the six African rhino subspecies are recovering, new surveys 
fail to locate any West African black rhinos, and find no more than four 
northern white rhinos.

Gland, Switzerland, 07 July 2006 (IUCN) – While most subspecies of Africa’s 
two rhinos, the black and white rhino, continue on the road to recovery, 
this is not true for two of Africa’s most threatened rhino subspecies: the 
West African black (Diceros bicornis longipes) and the northern white 
(Ceratotherium simum cottoni). The West African black rhino is now feared 
extinct and numbers of the northern white rhino have reached an all time low 
in the wild. In both cases, poaching for rhino horn is the main cause of 
their demise.

This is according to new estimates announced by the African Rhino Specialist 
Group (AfRSG) of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. An intensive survey 
earlier this year of the West African black rhino has failed to locate any 
sign of their continued presence in their last refuges in northern Cameroon.

“As a result this subspecies has been tentatively declared as extinct,” says 
Dr Martin Brooks, AfRSG chairman. “Also the northern white rhino is on the 
very brink of being lost. Restricted in the wild to Garamba National Park in 
the Democratic Republic of Congo, recent ground and aerial surveys conducted 
under the direction of African Parks Foundation and the AfRSG have only 
found four animals. Efforts to locate further animals continue, but we must 
now face the possibility that the subspecies may not recover to a viable 
level,” he continued

On a more positive note, continental black rhino numbers have increased to 
3,725 as a whole, a rise of 3.2% over the last two years: this from an all 
time low of 2,410 in 1995.  The ultimate conservation success story 
continues for the other white rhino subspecies, the southern white. Down to 
less than 50 animals a hundred or so years ago, numbers have increased to 
14,540.

At its recent meeting in Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Swaziland, opened by 
King Mswati III, Ngwenyama of Swaziland, and sponsored by UK’s Department 
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the AfRSG shared 
experiences in rhino management and reintroduction techniques, and discussed 
a wide variety of topics. Good progress was made towards the creation of a 
rhino management group to enhance collaboration between East African 
countries, holistic guidelines for guiding rhino reintroductions were 
drafted, and African range states supplied much of the data to enable the 
AfRSG to report on rhino status and illegal trade to the Secretariat of the 
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and 
Flora (CITES).

Poaching for rhino horn remains the primary threat to rhinos. It has been 
responsible for the dramatic decline of northern white rhinos since 2003. It 
is a truism that rhinos, like elephants, are amongst the first species to 
suffer once security declines, and they are particularly vulnerable to 
economic and political instability.

“In a climate of declining conservation budgets,” Dr Martin Brooks added, 
“it is good to note that two public private partnerships are bringing 
generous funding and institutional support for the creation of new large and 
genetically viable black rhino populations in North Luangwa, Zambia, and 
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.  However, such interventions are not always 
possible; African Range States need to strive for self-sufficiency and the 
integration of these flagship species and areas into their regional 
economies if the distribution and numbers are not to decline in future.”