White Rhino population down to 17

[DEMonstate]

KINSHASA, Congo, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Continued poaching of white rhinoceros in their last refuge in Congo has reduced the population of the majestic animals by 50 percent, report the BBC.

Conservationists say there are only about 17 to 22 animals left in the Garamba National Park in that country, formerly known as Zaire.

The World Conservation Union says this represents a loss of between 14 and 19 rhinos in 14 months since the last survey.

--later---

The northern white rhino was once widespread, with an estimated 2,250 animals across five African states in 1960.




http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/08060002aab016a4.upi&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News

[Worst Username Ever]

1. That's terrible. n/t

[proud patriot]

2. :-(

:cry:

[iceman_419]

3. oh boy

This is a problem that no politican has decided to face. While there is a war on "terror" there is also a war on animals and their habitat. This administration has one of the worst animal rights records in recent history. How many forests have been destroyed because of this administration? How many animals have died? It may not seem like much to most people, but really what have the animals done to us? I'm not a vegan or a big animal rights person but I think it is horrible that we are spending more time on gay marriage rather than aserious issue like saving endangered species. We should all do more to help out the animals. Let it be a dog, cat, horse, whatever we should all do something because what have they asked from us? I hope we as people can do more to help out the white rhino and other animals. Go to the pound and get a dog or cat. Help out with other animal rights organizations. No one wants to be an extremist but it sure as heck would make me feel better knowing that I saved an animals life and the only thing it wants in return is love.

[Lorien]

5. How many forests?

BushCo has signed 97% of our national forests over to his clear cutting contributors. There is a staggering environmental catastrophe on the horizon, and very few people (even within our own party) care to do anything about it. Dead zones are spreading through our oceans, biodiversity is shrinking at a rate not seen since the dinosaurs were wiped out. It goes far, far beyond any animal wanting "love"; it's a question of the continued existence of life on earth. Sure, maybe the cockroaches will survive. But when the seas, which produce 3/4 of our oxygen, are dead, and the forests, which produce the rest of our oxygen are gone...well, you do the math!

[amazona]

11. supporting pound animals doesn't help endangered species

Having a kind heart is an admirable thing, and I would never discourage you from extending a helping hand to a pound pet, but to be honest, putting more resources towards domestic cats and dogs does more harm than good when it comes to endangered animals. Outdoor cats are a particular danger to songbirds, who evolved in an environment free of this species of cat and who are often killed just as they are leaving the nest and learning how to fly. I would have to say, much as it pains me to write this, if we were serious about protecting wildlife in the U.S. we would do much more to control the cat population. At a minimum, our love affair with cats is a serious diversion of resources that we could spend on animals that actually need our help to survive.

[maxsolomon]

12. ok why don't you depress me more?

i'm not going to put my dog & cat down to save the white rhinos!

[amazona]

16. don't blame you, i wouldn't either !

I don't think putting a beloved pet down is going to save any rhinos, so don't be too perturbed. :-)

What bothered me was the poster who seemed to think that adopting a pound animal was doing something for endangered species. It is doing something for yourself, which is fine. And it's doing something for the pet, which is admirable. It's just that if the objective is to help endangered species, just fuzzy-mindedly "loving" a random animal is not a valid plan of attack.

[iceman_419]

19. my bad

I didn't mean it would help endangererd animals, but I just thought it would be a nice thing. While not all of us can help the rhino we can do what we can to help out other animals. I didn't mean to sound ignorant I was just giving my opinion. We should do our part to help both endangered animals and domestic animals which are being put to sleep because of careless owners and other reasons.

[newyawker99]

22. Hi iceman_419!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Babette]

4. I was in Kenya back in 1998

They had done a great job of keeping their white rhinos protected around Lake Nakuru. We saw large family groups with young in several different places. Lake Nakuru is very strict about keeping tour vans on marked roads, which leaves the rhinos undisturbed.

Kenya knows that their economy depends on their wildlife. It's too bad the Congo is unable to plan for their future. They're too busy just trying to survive the present.

[amazona]

10. Lake Nakuru white rhinos are introduced

We were told the Lake Nakuru white rhinoceros was an introduced species to Kenya. Nakuru will be protected, so they are in a good place there.

There is a black rhino species at Nairobi National Park, unfortunately, the future of that park is in serious question. Call him a tinfoiler, but a local told us bitterly that developers and powerful money interest were happy to turn their heads while the lions and other dangerous animals are exterminated from Nairobi (less than 10 lions left there, he said) by the Maasai herders. Then they will use the excuse that the animals are gone to sell the land to developers since it is so close to the city -- at which point neither herders nor animals will get any benefit from it. A sad day if it comes to pass.

[Minstrel Boy]

6. The current mass extinction is as dramatic as that which ended the

Mesozoic Era. A shame most people can't see it happening.

If present trends continue one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in 100 years.

Enjoy while you can.

Many links here:

http://www.well.com/user/davidu/extinction.html

[bigwillq]

7. That is very sad

I get so upset when I hear stories like this.

[MisterP]

8. Say hello to the Safari Club, Bush's bosom buddies

http://www.hsus.org/ace/20054

[stepnw1f]

9. Really Bad

[kwolf68]

13. Comments about cats

Someone above mentioned outdoor cats and their affect on the environment. I agree, but that isn't the cats issue...its our incompetent ownership of them.

RE White Rhino: Not surprised. First the White Rhino and soon the Tigers will follow and on and on. I love animals so much because they are at such a disadvantage, but I'd rather have extinction that exploitation.

The radical right-wing hunting groups want to "consume" animals by putting them on game preserves...and they will never go extinct, because someone will always be there to shoot it. Isn't "Free Market Economics" applied to nature a wonderful thing?

See, animals "pay their own way". If an animal is "worth" shooting, then by golly we will "save it." Animals that aren't as fun to slaugther? Well they will have to go bye bye, because they haven't been able to adapt to us, and they don't "bring a profit" in our economic system.

How the natural world is treated by these goons is something I'd sure love to see the Christian fundamentalists speak to, but they are fighting much more important battles like keeping "God" on the dollar bill.

And my wife wonders why I (a Christian) won't set foot in Church anymore?

[Zynx]

14. It isn't *all* white rhinos down to 17 left.

Just the ones in that park. There is still a decent population of them in South Africa.

You can pay $50,000 to hunt one with a tranquilizer gun.

[amazona]

15. the northern white rhinos will not survive, the southern will

The southern white rhino subspecies has made a dramatic comeback in recent years and can also be bred in captivity. It will be saved as a species even if it is wiped out in some areas.

The northern subspecies is virtually extinct. Last autumn, the guide at San Diego Wild Animal Park said there were only 2 females left, both older, so the species is effectively extinct now, although they were aware of (I think she said) 11 remaining. This article about them says 30 are left but looks like it was put up a couple years back:

http://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/whiterhino/subspecies/northern.htm

A species is not declared extinct until the last one has not been seen for 50 years so the northern white rhino won't be officially extinct in our lifetime. But it doesn't sound like there is any real hope.

[pifflePill]

17. This really sad news

Is there any way we can pin this problem on Bush? The more the merrier.

[Gregorian]

18. This just in- Humans not on endangered species list.

They appear to be on the increase, in fact. No end in sight.

[DaveSZ]

20. Yes Bush is encouraging this to happen

(I'm not simply saying this because I don't like him)

His cronies have actually re-written the Endangered Species Act to allow poachers to hunt and import endangered species into the US.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26242-2004Jul3.html


Endangered Species Act's Protections Are Trimmed

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 4, 2004; Page A01

The Bush administration has succeeded in reshaping the Endangered Species Act in ways that have sharply limited the impact of the 30-year-old law aimed at protecting the nation's most vulnerable plants and animals, according to environmentalists and some independent analysts.


The Bush initiatives, which have ranged from recalculating the economic costs of protecting critical habitats to limiting the number of species added to the protected list, reflect a policy shift that Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton calls the "New Environmentalism." Under this approach, federal officials have focused more on providing incentives to private landowners to protect the habitats of endangered species than on prohibiting human activity on those lands. While some environmentalists praise the incentive programs, they say these projects are not enough to protect animals and plants on the brink of extinction.

Federal officials have added an average of 9.5 species a year to the endangered list under President Bush, compared with 65 a year under President Bill Clinton and 59 a year under President George H.W. Bush. They have designated as "critical habitat" only half the acreage recommended by federal biologists. And they are transferring key decision-making powers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to other agencies with different priorities.

-more


http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles5/St.Clair_ESA.htm

[DaveSZ]

21. Bush Administration Set to Gut Endangered Species Act to Benefit

http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/blesa.htm


Bush Administration Set to Gut Endangered Species Act to Benefit U.S. Circus, Zoo, Trophy Hunting and Aquarium Industries


Capitulating to intense lobbying efforts by the zoo, circus, and trophy hunting industries, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is attempting to significantly weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The FWS is soliciting comments on its proposed regulatory change pertaining to permits issued pursuant to the enhancement of the survival of the species exemption. These proposed changes would essentially allow zoos and circuses to buy exotic endangered species, such as Asian elephants, by simply claiming that the money spent to purchase the animals would be used for "conservation" efforts. The FWS proposal can be read at

http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=73805725391+19+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve.

[hatrack]

23. Didn't she mean to say "No Environment"-ism?

Gale Norton - just another corporate Uber-Ho, happy to return the nation's forests, rivers and public lands to their designated Republican purpose - a vending machine for free minerals, timber and fish.