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A photo of one of the last Western Black Rhinos[/caption]
Despite being warned again and again, everyone loves to keep on doing the same thing again and again and yet still expect a different result. Daniel Kahneman gives some insights into why individuals make this mistake.
Unfortunately, governments are even worse. Perhaps that is because they represent an average of the thinking of lots of people, many of whom have no knowledge of, or interest in, the issues associated with endangered species. As Peter Scott and his colleagues recognised with the foundation of WWF in 1961, a small group of dedicated people is needed to fill the gaps where governments are unable or unwilling to make the right decisions. Government of Malaysia and Sabah are now making all the right decisions, but too late to save the Sumatran rhino alone. Sumatran rhino will be saved now only by deciding what needs to be done for the species, and not being sidelined by thinking whether they are Malaysian or Indonesian rhinos, and who owns them.
Here is a collection of historic correspondence from the 1980s pertaining to Sumatran rhinos in Borneo. Regrettably, it did not result in the timely intervention which may have made the critical difference to the survival of this species.
Further reading on extinction
How the Western Black Rhino Went Extinct
10 odd ways we protect endangered species
10 animals presumed extinct in the last decade
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A male rhinoceros recently rescued on the edge of Borneo's rain forest is expected to become the first participant of a Malaysian breeding program for his critically endangered ilk, a wildlife expert said Wednesday.
