Vietnam has now announced it will cooperate with South Africa in order to strengthen the crackdown. Two rhino horns were recently seized by customs officials the substance had most likely come from South Africa, and was worth an estimated $365,000. There are reports, however, of a recent crackdown on poaching in Vietnam, including the sales and trading of the ill-begotten horns, of which both Vietnam and China are large consumers. Poachers have capitalized on this superstition and dehorned thousands of the animals in multiple countries вЂ“ even in national parks.

The animals are coveted in certain countries due to the false belief that their horns can cure or fend off cancer. There are only an estimated 29,000 rhinos remaining worldwide. Though other Javan rhinos probably live elsewhere, that species is expected to face extinction next, if the situation does not change. The World Wildlife Fund said that what is believed to be the last remaining Javan rhino in Vietnam was killed by poachers in 2010 it had been found dead with a bullet in its leg and its horn removed. In addition to lack of protection, poaching plays a major factor in the dwindling rhinoceros population. Jane Smart, director of the IUCNвЂ™s global species program, added, вЂњWe 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.вЂќ вЂњThese measures must be strengthened now, specifically managing habitats in order to improve performance, preventing other rhinos from fading into extinction.вЂќ вЂњThe situation could have had very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented,вЂќ said Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN species survival commission. Today, other species, including the northern white rhino and AsiaвЂ™s Javan rhino, are also at risk. Now, however, the western black rhino is officially considered to be extinct worldwide, after being a victim of increasingly devastating poaching and seeing little to no conservation efforts. At that point, it was still believed that some of the rhinos existed in captivity, and they remained on the IUCNвЂ™s Red List of Threatened Species. Two years ago, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared AfricaвЂ™s western black rhino вЂ“ a subspecies of the black rhino вЂ“ to be extinct in the wild after they had not been seen since 2006.

Western black rhinoceros extinct