Lax anti-poaching efforts are to blame for the loss of the last
wild specimens of Western Black Rhino, leading the rhinoceros
subspecies to be declared officially extinct this week,
conservationists said Friday. Researchers estimate about 10 of
the long-legged West African variety of Black Rhino survived in
Cameroon until 2000. Prized by poachers for their horns, which
are used as trophies and in traditional medicine, the Western
Black Rhino now exists only in zoos. "There were very limited
anti-poaching efforts in place to save the animals, and anyone
caught poaching was not sentenced, hence no deterrents were in
place," said Craig Hilton-Taylor of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature. Its loss is significant because the
Western Black Rhino is genetically distinct from other rhino
subspecies. Reintroducing animals born into captivity is costly
and may be impossible, experts say. Efforts to preserve other
subspecies of Black Rhinos in Eastern and Southern Africa have
been more successful, but th