# Western black rhino declared extinct **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565 "2011-11-11T02:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/21 "2011-11-11T16:48:08Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > There aren’t any of these in zoos anywhere? (Better than nothing.) > > African elephants are supposed to be extinct in the wild within 15 years. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > They are? The [IUCN red list](http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/12392/0) has them listed at “Vulnerable”, which is better than Endangered, and also says their population trend is increasing at 4%/year. There are two kinds of African elephant: forest and “bush” (savannah) – whether subspecies of _Loxodonta africana_ or distinct species is arguable. IIRC the bush form is doing well; the forest one is walking on the proverbial banana peel. (Can you verify that, **muldoonthief**?) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/22 "2011-11-11T17:04:59Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > There are two kinds of African elephant: forest and “bush” (savannah) – whether subspecies of _Loxodonta africana_ or distinct species is arguable. IIRC the bush form is doing well; the forest one is walking on the proverbial banana peel. (Can you verify that, **muldoonthief**?) I have no idea. My original “That’s not right, African elephant populations are increasing” thought came from a school project my 9 year old did last year (her elephant impression is awesome BTW), and my cite came from googling. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/23 "2011-11-11T18:39:46Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have heard that the major market for rhino horn is the Chinese “traditional medicine” racket. > Apparently, it is belived that pills made from ground up rhino horn will restore sexual potency. > Is this true? Yes, sadly. Old Chinese men obsessed with their dicks have been the downfall of several species. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/24 "2011-11-11T18:49:46Z")
Have they not heard of Viagra? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/25 "2011-11-11T19:43:17Z")
Can’t they just declare open season on poachers? ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/26 "2011-11-11T20:12:42Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have heard that the major market for rhino horn is the Chinese “traditional medicine” racket. > Apparently, it is belived that pills made from ground up rhino horn will restore sexual potency. > Is this true? > [@Chefguy](#): > > Yes, sadly. Old Chinese men obsessed with their dicks have been the downfall of several species. **Chefguy** - do you have a cite for that? My understanding is that practitioners of Traditional Chinese Woo actually believe rhino horn is a fever reducer. The aphrodisiac thing is an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/27 "2011-11-11T22:57:02Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Have they not heard of Viagra? You never noticed that all that spam e-mail was coming from Diceros.bicornis@rhinosrus.org.za?? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/28 "2011-11-11T23:17:55Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > **Chefguy** - do you have a cite for that? My understanding is that practitioners of Traditional Chinese Woo actually believe rhino horn is a fever reducer. The aphrodisiac thing is an urban legend. Either way, it’s not good news for the rhino. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/29 "2011-11-12T00:16:48Z")
To set the scene, it’s useful to understand how incredibly remote this [region](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=il) is. It’s almost inaccessible by road from the capital, as no roads go through the dense rainforest in the heart of the country. To go by road you have to go around the edges of the country- which will take several days and at least one day is on unpaved and ungraded roads. The roads are infested with dangerous road bandits, and is best traversed by armed convey, in daylight only. The long arm of the law reaches…well, it doesn’t reach at all. In the few cities, you will find police officers. And on the roads you will certainly find police officers asking for bribes. But for the most part, there is almost no government presence. Most justice is informal, and it’s not unusual for a village to capture and summarily execute road bandits. The metaphor people tend to use is “Wild West”, but it’s more medieval times. The more powerful chiefs run private armies to secure their roads, but their concerns are their immediate economic influence. In any case, the vast majority of the region is not reachable by road at all. It’s mostly villages that can be reached only by hours on a motorcycle, and some even too remote for that. To the right are two countries with even less government. Central African Republic is as close to anarchy as it gets, and the central government doesn’t control more than a few dozen kilometers outside of the capital. It’s home to thousands of armed, trained, bored and unpaid former soldiers who have largely turned to crime to scrape by. There are no jobs, there is no government, the land is quickly degrading. Chad is not much better. It’s hard to think of these areas as countries- they are vast, loose, tribal lands that by accident of history have ended up well armed. A great deal of crime comes in to Cameroon from CAR. The borders are non-existant, and I’ve known people to wander over and end up in another country for days before they noticed. It’s very, very sad, but in a way it feels kind of inevitable. The species has been on the edge for a long time. The particular area that they happen to be in just so remote, so uncontrolled, and so on the edge of survival that there would be almost no way to have a successful protection program. ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/30 "2011-11-12T00:21:00Z")
There are 2 at the safari park in San Diego but the female is too old to breed last time I was there last summer. Cute though but sad. I think the guide said there was one at the Washington zoo as well. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565/31 "2011-11-12T00:26:18Z")
They can’t, like, clone 'em or something? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/602565.md?page=1)