Sunday, March 2, 2014

Carsin Ablon, 1st Period APUSH - Western Black Rhino Declared Extinct

Today, the West Africa black rhino, a species that has been endangered for centuries, has been declared extinct. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, the worlds largest conservation network, has been tracking the population of the rhinos as they have been on the decline due mostly to African poachers who de-horn the animals, sometimes killing them while leaving them defenseless. The announcement of the extinction has brought attention to the hunting permit for the rhino which was sold in dallas just a month ago. Although about 4000 rhinos still survive, the International Union for Conservation of Nature believes wild black rhinos will be entirely gone by 2016.

The cruelty in this article is overwhelming. On top of the poaching which contributes to an African and Asian black market, the hunting permit sold in Dallas has guaranteed that a wild species will nevertheless die out. I find it even more cruel that the lives of a rare and endangered species would be taken by rich Texans with a hobby. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, many Indian and African elephants will become extinct due to poaching as well. I do not know what kind of precautions can be taken, however I hope changes are made in order to preserve some of the worlds most beautiful animals.

To read more, see: http://science.time.com/2013/11/06/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/

2 comments:

  1. That's terrible to think that an animal can go extinct and there isn't anything we can do about it. There are so many endangered species, I hope the government can put more resources towards preserving beautiful animals like the rhino.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Animal cruelty is one thing that I have never understood. They are defenseless to us. They don't harm us; and they are apart of nature. This saddens me deeply.
    Ashley Barnes 2nd

    ReplyDelete