Comments on: Western Browsing Rhino Is No More

By: OxyHood

OxyHood — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 19:35:43 +0000

Good effort!

from
http://www.oxyhood.com

By: NJ

NJ — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:09:40 +0000

PHM @ 21:

What will they choose when they cannot get rhino horn?

Human Horn?

By: Paula Helm Murray

Paula Helm Murray — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:45:52 +0000

That is a huge pity. And makes me even sadder to see programs talking about all rhino’s ‘solitary habit’, that animals live separate except for mating.

I grew up watching Osa and Martin Johnson films from the 19203-1930s. Rhinos lived in herds like a lot of other hoofstock until their numbers were so diminished.

The globalization of the economy and the pernicious belief of the Chinese that anything rare or possibly endangered corrects potency in men have led to the destruction of these animals as well as tigers. What will they choose when they cannot get rhino horn?

Sigh.

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:52:31 +0000

Beautifull animals, so primeval.. like they could have been here from the pre-history.

By: Maria |armarios de cultivo interior

Maria |armarios de cultivo interior — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:49:51 +0000

Declining planet earth, the human is the worst virus that exists in the face of the earth.
We believe we are an intelligent race, but we are the only planet that destroys its disastrous speed.

By: TTT

TTT — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:44:22 +0000

StevoR: environmentalists tend not to have a problem with zoos. However, many endangered species have a problem with zoos–they can’t survive there. Captive breeding has a failure right above 50%; that’s why most zoos have the same “catalogue” of animals, because those are the ones that can manage it.

It’s a useful tool when it works, but can’t be presumed in advance.

By: GaryU

GaryU — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:17:05 +0000

@mo: Correct, there are still other populations of Black Rhino. I’m not an expert – I just read Wikipedia.

The Black Rhino species is Diceros bicornis. There were four subspecies, one of which was the West African. That’s the one that has been declared extinct.

There are still the South-central, South-western, and East African subspecies.

The Northern White mentioned above is a subspecies of Ceratotherium simum. According to Wikipedia, the only remaining are in captivity. There is a second subspecies of White rhino, the Southern (you didn’t see that name coming, did ya?)

And the Javan mentioned is Rhinoceros sondaicus. There were three subspecies (Indonesian Javan, Vietnamese, and Indian Javan). Indonesian is likely the only still surviving subspecies. “The population is now confined to as few as 40 animals in the wild, Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of the island of Java.”

I’ll confuse you by mentioning a sister species: Rhinoceros unicornis which is called the Indian Rhino (not mentioned in the article anywhere). But it’s not the same as the Indian Javan I mentioned in the last paragraph.

All rhinos belong to the family Rhinocerotidae. In addition to Ceratotherium, Diceros, and Rhinoceros, there is one more genus: Dicerorhinus. One species still survives: the Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis).

So there you have it. The five extant species of rhino. Thank you, Wikipedia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinocerotidae

By: mo

mo — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:22:15 +0000

But other black rhino populations are not extinct yet?

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:12:08 +0000

Gary, that is confusing. The should prob refer to “populations” and then have a table giving genera/species/subspp names.

By: GaryU

GaryU — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:43:07 +0000

This makes official what we already suspected from a search in 2006.

The linked to / quoted article is confusing, though, in that it refers to three subspecies of rhino, but they are not three subspecies of the same species. They don’t even share Genera.