If poaching continues to increase at the current rate, then overall black and white rhino numbers are predicted to go into decline in 2015-16, as natural deaths and poaching mortalities overtake the number of births per year. The black rhino species is Critically Endangered and looks to become more so, as rhinos are being slaughtered across Africa and Asia on the orders of consumers in Asia, particularly Vietnam, where the horn is coveted as a supposed cancer or hangover cure or as a symbol of one’s wealth. bicornis), found in Namibia and South Africa. minor), found in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa and the SouthWestern ( D.b.

michaeli) found in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa the SouthCentral ( D.b. Now there are only three subspecies surviving: The Eastern black ( D.b. The Western black rhino was one of the – then four – subspecies of black rhino. Poaching killed off the last few stragglers. The last reporting sightings of the Western black rhino were even further back, in 2003, by which time its range had shrunk to small areas in Cameroon. The recommendation to do so was made back in 2006, but the Red List always waits for five years before changing the status of a subspecies or species, just in case any new evidence comes to light.

In fact, the Western black rhino ( Diceros bicornis longipes) was declared extinct back in 2011, when the IUCN Red List changed its status from Critically Endangered to Extinct. We don’t know why this is being so widely reported now the journalism is very out of date. CNN and other outlets have recently run articles that the Western black rhino has been declared extinct.

Black rhinoceros