West African black rhino feared extinct (Report by IUCN)

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DSWF News - West African black rhino feared extinct (Report by IUCN)

 

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. The West African black (Diceros bicornis longipes) is

now feared extinct and the numbers of northern white (Ceratotherium simum

cottoni) 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

and " 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. "