Topic 23:
Species Extinctions
The western black rhino is now officially extinct, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The world’s largest conservation network had considered the rhino, last seen in 2006, “critically endangered” up until it made the official declaration earlier this week.
“Given the wildlife poaching taking place, lack of political will and conservation effort by Cameroon conservation authorities in the past, and increasing illegal demand for rhino horn and associated increased commercial rhino poaching in other range states, it is highly probable that this subspecies is now extinct,” said a statement on the IUCN’s official page for the animal.
The IUCN added that Africa’s northern white rhino is “teetering on the brink of extinction” while Asia’s Javan rhino is “making its last stand” against human activities.
“In the case of the western black rhino and the northern white rhino the situation could have had very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented,” said Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN species survival commission, in a statement to CNN.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112998277/western-black-rhino-officially-extinct-110813/
Learning Goals for Day:
The Extinction of Species – example: Passenger Pigeon
A) Background extinction rates -
% of species that have gone extinct
average “life-time” of a species = 3.5-4 million years
background extinction rates based on fossil record
record of mass extinctions (e.g. end of age of dinosaurs) - 5 of them; we are now in the 6th
B) What makes species susceptible to extinction?
C) Human-caused Extinctions
Thoughts to consider…
Why should we care about extinction, and the loss of biodiversity?
... it is a question worth pondering. Think about it, & see Leopold's Round River essay – this could be a good exam essay question…
Extinction video – questions from the worksheet