AFP Yahoo News 10 Nov 11;
Several species of rhino have been poached into extinction or to the point of no return, according to an update of the Red List of Threatened Species, the gold standard for animal and plant conservation.
All told, a quarter of all mammal species assessed are at risk of extinction, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles the list, said on Thursday.
About a third of the 61,900 species now catalogued by the IUCN are classified as "vulnerable," "endangered," "critically endangered," or extinct, with some groups, such as amphibians and reptiles, in particularly rapid decline.
Rhinoceros have been hit especially hard in recent years. Their fearsome horns -- prized for dagger handles in the Middle East and traditional medicine in east Asia -- can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market.
The new assessment shows that a subspecies of the western black rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes) native to western Africa is now extinct, joining a long list of creatures -- from the Tasmanian tiger to the Arabian gazelle -- that no longer stride the planet.
Central Africa's northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is listed as "possibly extinct in the wild", while the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is making a last stand after the remaining specimen of its Vietnamese counterpart was killed by poachers last year.
"Human beings are stewards of the earth and we are responsible for protecting the species that share our environment," Simon Stuart, head of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, said in a statement.
"In the case of both the western black and the northern white rhinos the situation could have had very different results if suggested conservation measures had been implemented."
There were a few slivers of good news showing that species can be prevented from slipping into oblivion.
The southern white rhino subspecies (Ceratotherium simum simum) is back from the brink, its numbers up from 100 at the end of the 19th century to some 20,000 today.
Central Asia's Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus), meanwhile, has moved from a status of critically endangered to endangered.
"We have the knowledge that conservation works if executed in a timely manner," said Jane Smart, the Global Species Programme director.
The general trend, however, is an acceleration in extinction across a wide spectrum of fauna and flora. Indeed, many scientists say Earth is on the edge of a so-called great extinction event, only the sixth in half-a-billion years.
Some groups are especially vulnerable. In Madagascar, home to a dazzlingly rich diversity of life, an alarming 40 percent of reptiles are threatened.
Plant species are disappearing too. Such was the fate of the Chinese water fir (Glyptostrobus pensilis), once common in China but now apparently extinct in the wild due to habitat loss.
The new classification also recognises new species, including 26 recently discovered amphibians such as the blessed poison frog (Ranitomeya benedicta) and the summers' poison frog (Ranitomeya summersi).
Both are threatened by habitat loss and harvesting for the international pet trade.
"The world is full of marvelous species that are rapidly moving towards becoming things of myth and legend," said the IUCN's Jean-Christophe Vie.
Western black rhino declared extinct
Daniel Boettcher BBC News 10 Nov 11;
No wild black rhinos remain in West Africa, according to the latest global assessment of threatened species.
The Red List, drawn up by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has declared the subspecies extinct.
A subspecies of white rhino in central Africa is also listed as possibly extinct, the organisation says.
The annual update of the Red List now records more threatened species than ever before.
The IUCN reports that despite conservation efforts, 25% of the world's mammals are at risk of extinction. As part of its latest work it has reassessed several rhinoceros groups.
Poaching vulnerability
As well as declaring the western black rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes) extinct, it records the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), a subspecies in central Africa, as being on the brink of extinction.
The last Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) outside Java is also believed to have disappeared.
Overall numbers of black and white rhinos have been rising, but some subspecies have been particularly vulnerable to poaching by criminal gangs who want to trade the animals' valuable horns.
Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, told BBC News: "They had the misfortune of occurring in places where we simply weren't able to get the necessary security in place.
"You've got to imagine an animal walking around with a gold horn; that's what you're looking at, that's the value and that's why you need incredibly high security."
Another focus for this year's list is Madagascar and its reptiles. The report found that 40% of terrestrial reptiles are threatened. But it also says that new areas have been designated for conservation.
That will help protect endangered species including Tarzan's chameleon (Calumma tarzan) and the limbless skink (Paracontias fasika).
Among the success stories identified in the latest annual update is the reintroduction of the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus). Listed extinct in the wild in 1996, it was brought back after a captive breeding programme and the wild population is now thought to exceed 300.
Among the partner organisations involved in compiling the research for the list is the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
ZSL's Dr Monika Boehm said: "This Red List update very much shows us a mixed picture of what's happening to the world's species. There's some good news and some bad news.
"Unfortunately, the overall trend is still a decline in biodiversity. We still haven't achieved our conservation potential."
