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Only 3 northern white rhinos left on Earth
- reidrac 11y agoWhy the proxy? This is the direct link: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/only-3-northern-white-rhinos-left-on-earth/ http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/only-3-northern-white-rhinos... EDIT: actually I found the proxy more interesting than the story itself.
- mengjiang 11y agoPersonally, I found many comments useful and entertaining, but the way HN and Reddit are designed makes it difficult to read the comments while reading the story. I also use the Parle browser extension, which does this for all articles without the proxy.
- ziahamza 11y agoThe proxy can be generated from the Parle Browser extension which overlays HN and Reddit discussions directly on the page. You read more about it at https://www.parle.co https://www.parle.co
- nailer 11y agodang can you fix the link?
- saiya-jin 11y agoback in 2008 when I visited Chitwan national park in Nepal, we were shown what locals claimed white rhinos (mother and calf). riding on the back of elephant, rhinos were calm and didn't notice us. either things went much worse, or those were not white ones. anyway, 3 rhinos left means species is extinct, unless mighty genetics step in in near future.
- jlebrech 11y agowe should at least keep backups of the DNA.
- jnaour 11y agoIt's something that I was wondering: is there some kind of DNA library with samples of every species DNA, us included? I'm not a biologist but I guess with samples of 100 individuals it could be possible to "recreate" a whole species.
- amelius 11y agoI'm not a biologist either. I think the problem is that DNA breaks down when stored. And you cannot store it digitally, because the way the molecules are folded contains information as well (besides just the base-pair letters ACTG), and we can't sequence the folding yet. But like I said, IANAB.
- mengjiang 11y agoWhile DNA samples would be a great thing to have, I'd hate for that to be the only trance of them left in the future. Imagine one day, when all we will have is a huge book of DNA samples of everything we used to know.
- philh 11y agoThe people taking DNA samples agree with you. It's not like they just really want a sample of rhino DNA. They're keeping them so that maybe some day we'll be able to use that sample to bring back actual rhinos.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Camillo 11y agoWith Chinese quackery behind the demand for rhino horn, and with China's increasing presence in Africa, I am really surprised that the Chinese government is not doing more to save the rhinos. If I were a high-ranking communist bureaucrat, I would see this as an easy chance to score points for national (and personal) prestige, yet there seems to be zero interest. Why?
- ziahamza 11y agoI don't think its just China. Horns used to be one of the ingredients in classic chinese medicine, but its drastically reduced next to none after horns were banned a couple of decades ago. India itself is a big importer of horns and I think much bigger then China
- random_ind_dude 11y ago>India itself is a big importer of horns and I think much bigger then China That's not true at all. In fact India has two-thirds of the world's great one-horned rhino population in the Kaziranga National Park. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaziranga_National_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaziranga_National_Park There are armed guards protecting the rhinos and they've even shot and killed poachers, though poaching still happens due to demand from Southeast Asia. http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/3-poachers-killed-by-forest-guards-in-assams-kaziranga-national-park-726881 http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/3-poachers-killed-by-forest-g... As per the article below, Vietnam is the country that is driving the current demand for rhino horns. http://qz.com/82302/theres-a-country-that-will-pay-300000-per-rhino-horn-to-cure-cancer-and-hangovers-and-its-wiping-out-rhinos/ http://qz.com/82302/theres-a-country-that-will-pay-300000-pe...
- logingone 11y agoThere is also use by Somalis / Yemenis for dagger hilts and handles.
- onion2k 11y agoThe fact that these animals have been hunted to extinction should be evidence that their horn has no medicine value. If it worked we'd have rhinoceros farms.
- thaumasiotes 11y agoI'm sure people are happy to operate rhinoceros farms solely for the monetary value, which we know the horn does have. The problem is elsewhere.
- danieltillett 11y agoNot necessarily. Rhinos would only be farmed if they could be patented. Of course rhino horn has no medical value, but it could still be hunted to extinction even if it did. On this topic silphium went extinct despite being highly useful medically [1]. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silphium
- dikdik 11y agoLots of things are farmed that are not patented. From your own source, "The identity of silphium is highly debated." -_-
- danieltillett 11y agoThat is because silphium was exploited to extinction, much like the rhino.
- onion2k 11y agoRhinos would only be farmed if they could be patented. That makes me wonder percentage of the world's farming is done under a patent.
- danieltillett 11y agoActually quite a large percentage. Plant patents are a huge business [1]. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_breeders%27_rights https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_breeders%27_rights
- DrScump 11y agoStory from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34897767 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34897767
- haser_au 11y agoHumans suck sometimes
- roflchoppa 11y agoAre there not issues of running into genetic defects from having such a small population to breed from?