^I'm not a zoologist but doesn't that lack of diversity just result in a lower chance of viability and higher chance of defect? In other words, if you did it enough times, you'd get good specimens? I don't know, that just makes intuitive sense to me.
Anyhoo, this is all too bad. That thing about 3d printing fake horns that are so convincing you can't tell the difference is awesome, though. I hope that technology can continue to develop to do cool things like that.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
If there are only 4 left you'd think they would keep them together.
There were two groups, previous: a pair in San Diego, and five in the Czech Republic. The pair in San Diego were too old to mate, and the male died last year. The Czech Republic ones were relocated to Kenya in 2009 with the thought that it might provide a better breeding environment; Nabire (the one that just died) was not moved because she was not in good health and had cysts that made her a poor candidate for breeding. Of the four that were moved to Kenya, the last male who had a decent chance of breeding died last year as well. Of the three females that remain, two are infertile, and the other one has weak hind legs and would likely be unable to endure pregnancy. So at this point, artificially inseminating an egg and implanting it in a southern white rhino is pretty-much the only chance for getting another generation out of this species.
The chinese want everything. They're #######s like that.
Not to sound rude, but they will be the cause of many animal extinctions from Rhinos to sharks. It's funny how they protect the Panda with such enthusiasm yet they chop off the fins of sharks and leave the bodies in the water.
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Not to sound rude, but they will be the cause of many animal extinctions from Rhinos to sharks. It's funny how they protect the Panda with such enthusiasm yet they chop off the fins of sharks and leave the bodies in the water.
They are simply screwing with the oceans eco systems, Sharks, over fishing Bluefins, destroying coral reefs and of course dumping billions of pounds of plastic in the ocean like it's their personal landfill.
^I'm not a zoologist but doesn't that lack of diversity just result in a lower chance of viability and higher chance of defect? In other words, if you did it enough times, you'd get good specimens? I don't know, that just makes intuitive sense to me.
Anyhoo, this is all too bad. That thing about 3d printing fake horns that are so convincing you can't tell the difference is awesome, though. I hope that technology can continue to develop to do cool things like that.
It's only the northern subspecies which is in trouble. The southern white rhino is doing quite well. If lack of genetic diversity became a problem, you could introduce southern animals. Not ideal obviously.
Why do the Chinese want the horns so bad? Is this a religious thing?
Nope, it's a stupidity thing. Whatever magic properties they think it contains has to be some of the most a$$ backwards thinking out there. It's basically the same material as fingernails or hair.
Flooding the market with manmade material is a solid, solid idea.
It's only the northern subspecies which is in trouble. The southern white rhino is doing quite well. If lack of genetic diversity became a problem, you could introduce southern animals. Not ideal obviously.
Yup, and there's the bonus that every experiment we do on genetic modification, cross-breeding, and general reproductive technology for large mammals brings us one step closer to finally getting ourselves some wooly mammoths. No disrespect to the white rhinos and other critically endangered species, but wooly mammoths should be the end goal.
^But global warming, though? Wooly mammoths are obsolete.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
