Taronga Western Plains Zoo, New South Wales Australia

Western black rhino declared extinct

WILD black rhinos were declared extinct, according to the latest assessment by experts at a leading conservation group.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said the western black rhino, native to West Africa, no longer exists and claimed that a quarter of all other mammal species are at risk of extinction.

Its updated "red list" of threatened species, the gold standard for animal and plant conservation, classified the Central African white rhino as "possibly extinct in the wild," and the Javan rhino is also making a last stand after Vietnamese poachers killed the last of its subspecies last year.

"Human beings are stewards of the earth, and we are responsible for protecting the species that share our environment," Simon Stuart, head of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, said in a statement.

He added, "In the case of both the western black and the northern white rhinos, the situation could have had very different results if suggested conservation measures had been implemented."

Positive developments included the reintroduction of Central Asia's Przewalski's horse (pictured below) which has moved from a status of critically endangered to endangered thanks to a successful captive breeding and reintroduction program.

• 3 YEARS AGO NOVEMBER 11, 2011 12:30AM

This baby black rhinoceros, pictured with her mum, was born at the Western Plains Zoo in NSW in 2002. Experts say zoos are the only place we will see such animals from now on. Source: The Advertiser

Kufara, one of the Black rhinos at Western Plains Zoo. Picture: Anthony Reginato

Kwanzaa, 11-year-old black rhinoceros watches Indian myna bird as it walks around his enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney in 2003. Source: AP

http://www.news.com.au/world/western-black-rhino-declared-extinct/story-e6frfkyi-1226192014993

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March 23, 2010

Romping Baby Rhino Rocks Taronga!

Australia's Taronga Western Plains Zoo has welcomed the arrival of a female Black Rhino calf born in the early hours of Wednesday 17 February 2010 to first-time mother Bakhita. Both mother and calf will remain off display in behind-the-scenes paddocks over the coming weeks to ensure that Bakhita has time to adapt to her new role as mother and that her calf can familiarize itself with its new surroundings.

http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2010/03/romping-baby-rhino-rocks-taronga.html

1. Taronga Western Plains Zoo

   Zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales

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2. Taronga Western Plains Zoo, formerly known as Western Plains Zoo and commonly known as Dubbo Zoo, is a large zoo near Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. Wikipedia
4. Address: Obley Road, Dubbo NSW 2830, Australia
5. Area: 3 km²
6. Opened: February 28, 1977
7. Hours: 
   

   Open today · 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
8. Phone: +61 2 6881 1400