Another one bites the dust

The Western black rhinoceros has been declared to be extinct.

The official announcement was made recently by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), according to Time magazine. The Western black rhino (pictured), a subspecies of the black rhino, was last seen in 2006, after having been “heavily hunted in the beginning of the 20th century,” said a recent article in the UK’s Daily Mail.

Attempts to protect the subspecies resulted in a population increase in the 1930s, but failure to continue preservation efforts led to the decline that resulted in extinction. In 1980, the Western black rhino population numbered in the hundreds; by 2000, about 10 were left.

“In the case of the Western black rhino … the situation could have had very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented,” said Simon Stuart, chairman of the IUCN’s species-survival commission.