The extinction of the West African black rhino, which was once widespread throughout the African continent, brings to light the rapid decline of the species as a whole.
Less than a month ago the Javan rhino was declared extinct in Vietnam, and although there's a very small group still living in Indonesia (very small, like 50 at best), there aren't any in captivity of either species and there's little hope the Javan rhino will survive much longer.
Meanwhile, another species of African rhino, the Northern white rhino, is on the brink of extinction with as many as 4 on a reserve in Kenya and 3 in captivity (at least two of which are unable to reproduce).
These rhino species range across two different continents in vastly different environments, but are declining for the same reason: poaching.
Of the five remaining species, only 1 subspecies isn't threatened.
The Southern white rhino has numbers near 17 thousand, but even that classifies it as "near threatened.
" Because of an incredible collaboration with the South African government more than 40 years ago, the Southern white rhino was legally protected, poachers were turned into guardians and captive breeding became a success.
It definitely makes me wonder why the other species of rhino can't be saved like the Southern white, and the answer, I think, lies somewhere between geography and politics.
The Northern white was just unfortunate enough to live mostly in the Congo which has been so plagued with extreme civil war for many decades that few people, much less animals, are thriving.
The Asian rhinos (Javan, Sumatra, Greater one-horned) are trapped by the habitat they need to survive and the wild superstition that rhino horn has medicinal properties, curing everything from the common cold to cancer.
But when rhino horn fetches many thousands of dollars per pound on the black market (in some areas it's worth more than gold), why on earth would poachers stop poaching? Which brings us to extinction.
Sooner or later these animals will go extinct.
There's a chance the Southern white rhino will survive thanks to protection laws that are still in place, but the Northern white, black and pretty much all of the Asian species are all but doomed.
What will the poachers do for money once their resources are gone forever? What will the Chinese do without their magical rhino horn? Will we one day realize rhino horn does nothing more than chewing on your fingernails? Will this realization come far, far too late? Thinking about all this is depressing.
In fact, just over the weekend I was in the grocery store and really wanted some popcorn, but every single brand of microwave popcorn uses palm oil, a major contributor to deforestation and habitat destruction that plagues two Asian species of rhino.
It's here I feel caught between MUST ACT NOW and feeling really, really helpless.
I hope something changes, and I'd really like to be a part of that change.
Unfortunately my training was not in biology or animal husbandry like I intended when I was a kid, so for the time being I'll have to use the skills I do have to spread the word.
Don't buy palm oil, kids.
Support conservation with your money, if not directly then with your purchasing choices.
Make a difference, even if it's a small one.