36 replies to this topic

[Yung]

The subspecies of the Black Rhino, the Western Black Rhino has been officially declared extinct.

 

http://www.richardda...eclared-extinct

 

While though unfortunate it is yet another example of how animals go extinct all the time, this extinction is more than likely the result of continued poaching and lack of conservation for the critically endangered species.

 

[Maha]

Nuuuuuuuuuu :'( </3 D: So sad....

[TamerVirus]

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Waser Lave]

Damn Chinese...

[Clumsy]

Those poor Rhinos. What did they ever do to us to deserve such a fate.

[Yung]

In terms of main species (including their respective sub-species) the Javan rhino is the most endangered.

 

You can read about it here.

 

Javan rhinos are the most threatened of the five rhino species, with as few as 35 individuals surviving in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia. Vietnam’s last Javan rhino was poached in 2010. The Javan rhino is a dusky grey color and has a single horn of up to about 10 inches. Their skin has a number of loose folds giving the appearance of armor plating. This species is very similar in appearance to the closely-related greater-one rhinoceros, but has a much smaller head and less apparent skin folds.

 

Spoiler

 

[Pirates]

I wonder if there's even the remote possibility of a fake news report to protect the remaining western black rhinos and perhaps spur up activity to protect other species from poaching.

[Jiayu]

It's pretty sad thinking of how much better off animal life would be without humans. It's amazing how destructive we are.

[NapisaurusRex]

It's pretty sad thinking of how much better off animal life would be without humans. It's amazing how destructive we are.

Dinosaurs went extinct 100% without humans.

 

Unless you believe they lived together. Or that dinosaurs never existed.

 

I clicked through to the original article

 

There's a part I was wondering about:

"We have the knowledge that conservation works if executed in a timely manner, yet, without strong political will in combination with targeted efforts and resources, the wonders of nature and the services it provides can be lost forever."

Where do you guys think the efforts and resources should come from, if they should be given at all?

[Yung]

Where do you guys think the efforts and resources should come from, if they should be given at all?

I think an option for securing funds for such endeavors could come from charitable organizations. Most charities only have to dedicate a very small percentage of the funds they collect to what it is they raise funds for. Organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army are more notorious for that then organizations like the World Wildlife Fund. What I think should happen is that X% of the funds that aren't required to go towards whatever the given organization is raising funds for that isn't being used for that target function should have an equally small proportion dedicated to the conservation and protection of wildlife and wildlife habitats.

I forget the exact numbers but lets say a charity for breast cancer only has to allocate 8% of their funds toward fighting breast cancer.
The organization puts 12% of the funds they receive into breast cancer research.
The remaining 88% they've been pocketing as they're legally allowed to do.
Take 8% of the 88% and allocate it toward Rainforest conservation in the Amazonian Rainforest or some other note worthy cause like the Great Barrier Reef. Those funds directly go to those places and help better fund the efforts being made there.

We'd see millions of donated money be going to the causes that really need them, even if in the original donation we were donating for another cause. Everyone pitches in, everyone helps out, and in the end everyone saves the world.

[Jiayu]

Dinosaurs went extinct 100% without humans.

 

Unless you believe they lived together. Or that dinosaurs never existed.

 

I never implied extinction didn't occur without the help of humans, but we have changed a lot about the world which has led to many more extinctions than (arguably) would have happened otherwise.

[NapisaurusRex]

I think an option for securing funds for such endeavors could come from charitable organizations. Most charities only have to dedicate a very small percentage of the funds they collect to what it is they raise funds for. Organizations like the Red Cross and Salvation Army are more notorious for that then organizations like the World Wildlife Fund. What I think should happen is that X% of the funds that aren't required to go towards whatever the given organization is raising funds for that isn't being used for that target function should have an equally small proportion dedicated to the conservation and protection of wildlife and wildlife habitats.

I forget the exact numbers but lets say a charity for breast cancer only has to allocate 8% of their funds toward fighting breast cancer.
The organization puts 12% of the funds they receive into breast cancer research.
The remaining 88% they've been pocketing as they're legally allowed to do.
Take 8% of the 88% and allocate it toward Rainforest conservation in the Amazonian Rainforest or some other note worthy cause like the Great Barrier Reef. Those funds directly go to those places and help better fund the efforts being made there.

We'd see millions of donated money be going to the causes that really need them, even if in the original donation we were donating for another cause. Everyone pitches in, everyone helps out, and in the end everyone saves the world.

...so what you're saying is to take donations out of other charitable purposes and use them for something other than their intended purpose and potentially totally and completely unrelated?

[Yung]

...so what you're saying is to take donations out of other charitable purposes and use them for something other than their intended purpose and potentially totally and completely unrelated?

Yup. Take the funds that those charities aren't putting towards what they're raising money to do and apply it to saving our planet.

We can have a million charities for a million things and it don't mean shit if we have no planet to live on.

We need our animals and rainforests (and other habitats) because without them in their respective ecosystems others fall and pretty soon we live in a desolate wasteland with no food.

[Waser Lave]

Dinosaurs went extinct 100% without humans.

There's a big difference between an extinction-level event decimating just about all life on Earth and a particular species being pointlessly slaughtered just so some Chinese guys can try to make their ding-a-ling a bit longer/harder/wider/whateverer.

[Nonexistent]

meh, in 30 years they gonna go like "o shit previously thought extinct rhino rediscovered in an isolated place in africa!"

[TamerVirus]

Just like the dodo! Oh wait...

[Waser Lave]

Just like the dodo! Oh wait...

Oh wait, what?

[Keil]

Not a cute panda. duncurr.

[TamerVirus]

It was in reference to nonexistent's post
Because it totally didn't happen to the dodo

[Nonexistent]

It was in reference to nonexistent's post
Because it totally didn't happen to the dodo

for now....

[Waser Lave]

It was in reference to nonexistent's post
Because it totally didn't happen to the dodo

He lives in hope. I bet they will be back one day, by human hand.

[TamerVirus]

He lives in hope. I bet they will be back one day, by human hand.

Only to be eaten to extinction by the Chinese, right?

[Stitches]

This is old news  (the original article is from 2011), but remaining species are still being poached to shit. I suggest we poach the poachers.

 

No really. I'm normally all humanitarian and whatnot, but you fuck with animals? YOU GON' DIE.

Dinosaurs went extinct 100% without humans.

 

Where do you guys think the efforts and resources should come from, if they should be given at all?

 

There's billions that go into completely unnecessary crap or just gets wasted every year, not just from the US. But as long as people don't (or can't) put their wallets where their mouths are not much is going to change. And a lot of people have a hard enough time getting by as it is, I would love to donate my time and money to environmental protection and dozens of other issues I care about, but unfortunately I have student loans to pay off. Natural resources, space exploration, and other related endeavors get a minuscule fraction of what's spent on say defense or anti-terrorism ('sup NSA). Our priorities are screwed up.

 

Also what Waser said, an asteroid wiping out almost all life some 250 million years ago can't really be put into the same category as hunting a species to extinction for traditional medicines that don't actually work or a nice rug. If rhino horn cured cancer, then maybe we could talk. But poaching is totally senseless. 

[NapisaurusRex]

If rhino horn cured cancer, then maybe we could talk. But poaching is totally senseless.

How do we know it doesn't?

[Waser Lave]

How do we know it doesn't?

Because then you could cure it by biting your nails.