🦏 The Western Black Rhino Is Officially Extinct… This Is So Sad 😢

Image from Canva

The western black rhinoceros, one of the rarest rhino subspecies, has been declared officially extinct.

I knew it was critically endangered, but I thought there was still a chance. Turns out, nope. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) had already flagged it back in 2011, but now it’s confirmed: no sightings in years, no animals left in the wild. It’s over.

This rhino used to live in western Africa, and it was already being wiped out by poaching—mostly for its horn. Rhino horn is still in high demand in some traditional medicines in Asia… which is just wild to me.

It really makes you think about how destructive we can be as a species. Every time an animal goes extinct, we lose a piece of history, of biodiversity, of beauty.