News that the last male of the Northern white rhinoceros sub-species has been euthanased in Kenya has hit the headlines (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/20/last-male-northern-white-rhinos-death-highlights-huge-extinction-crisis). The individual ('Sudan') only seems to have survived thus far by seeking asylum, for a period of time, in a Czech zoo. These animals are not actually white (it's a scrambling of 'witte' or wide) and now only a daughter and granddaughter of the final male remain (not much genetic diversity there!). Despite talks of possible ivf and breeding, I think we have to accept that the sub-species has effectively gone. What is actually more scary, is the fact that tens of thousands of less news-worthy species are currently permanently disappearing from the planet, also largely as a consequence of human activities.
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