Humans Are the Worst: Western Black Rhinos Now Extinct

Well, here’s another animal extinction that was totally preventable but because some humans are walking piles of garbage, it’s all said and done for the majestic Western Black Rhinos.

The subspecies of the black rhino, classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, was last seen in western Africa in 2006. The IUCN’s latest review has declared them extinct, and issued warnings for other rhinos, as well. They say that Africa’s northern white rhino is “teetering on the brink of extinction” while Asia’s Javan rhino is “making its last stand” due to continued poaching and lack of conservation.

So much of this is due to shitty poaching by westerners — the story of extinction is filled with heartbreaking stories like wealthy American businessmen traveling to Namibia and paying $200,000 to shoot and kill black rhinos. The above black rhino heads were confiscated from David Hausman, a New York City antiques dealer, who double-crossed wildlife protection authorities by first offering to help fight illegal sales of rhinoceros horns, then buying some himself. Charming.