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Sudan
Extinction is forever
Sudan, the last male of the Northern White Rhinos died in 2018. He left two females behind in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya, both of which were his offspring, Najin and Fatu. He had 24 hour protection by armed guards and trained anti-poaching dogs.
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They cut off his horns to make him less appealing to poachers as rhino horns are trafficked in the black market. The horn of a white rhino can sell for at least $3,000.00 a pound. Horns themselves are made of keratin - what our fingernails are made of - so there is absolutely no value to them. The powdered horns have "medicinal" value in traditional Chinese medicine. If you want to cure your gout or arthritis, just bite your nails. It's cost effective and it doesn't kill off an incredible species.
Recently, scientists extracted eggs from the Northern White Rhino using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and injected with the sperm cells of the last of the Northern White Rhino. They have viable options of surrogate mothers and hopefully, maybe the rhino can make a comeback.
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Trophy
hunting
Trophy hunting is the purposeful shooting of animals for sport. Hunters will keep the skins, the heads, or other parts as souvenirs. In Africa, there are the Big Five game animals: lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and cape buffalo. All of these animals are of conservation concern. It can cost at least $40,000.00 to hunt an African elephant. Hunters argue that they are helping the country by buying permits to hunt but the reality is that it brings almost no revenue to the country. In fact, photographic safaris generate much more income and the animals continue to thrive while educating people about the importance of these animals. Botswana, Africa has the largest remaining elephant population.
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