Black rhino ‘on the brink of extinction’

BLACK rhino are now on the “brink” of extinction as a result of poaching‚ a new study reveals.

“We could not imagine that it [rhino poaching] would have a great effect. It is shocking‚” said Dr Desire Dalton‚ one of the authors of an international research study on the extinction of black rhino.

The study, titled Extinctions‚ Genetic Erosion and Conservation Options for the Black Rhinoceros (Diceros Bicornis) was conducted to investigate what is left of the rhino as “well documented” poaching and subsequent demographic collapse of black rhino populations have “raised fears” that this species will disappear from the wild within the next two decades.

The study found that there has been a “staggering” loss of 69% of the species’ genetic variation.

“We have found that there is a decline in genetic diversity with 44 of 64 genetic lineages no longer existing”‚ said Professor Antoinette Kotze‚ manager of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa’s department of research and scientific services.

Dalton said the research was done over eight years by a group of 17 experts from all over the world who compared the DNA collected from specimens housed in museums around the world and wild animals.

The DNA was extracted from the skins of museum specimens and from tissue and faecal samples from animals in the wild.

“We looked at the DNA of rhino. We got tissue samples from dead animals and we used blood samples from live rhino‚” Dalton said.

She said the museums they worked with to collect samples included the Natural History Museum in Zimbabwe and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. DNA samples from South Africa and Zimbabwe were analysed locally‚ while the rest were analysed in Vienna.

The study stresses the need to “quell” the poaching pandemic as it further puts a strain on the genetic diversity of the species.

Genetic diversity‚ according to biology online.org‚ refers to “both the vast numbers of different species as well as the diversity within a species. “The greater the genetic diversity within a species‚ the greater that species’ chances of long-term survival”.

Black rhinos have already been hunted to extinction in Nigeria‚ Chad‚ Cameroon‚ Sudan‚ Ethiopia.

The species is found in only five African countries – Tanzania‚ Zimbabwe‚ Kenya‚ Namibia‚ and South Africa where the majority of the animals are found. — TMG