What it is
The western black rhinoceros was a subspecies of the black rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes), adapted to the savannas and woodlands of West and west-central Africa. IUCN declared it Extinct in 2011. Living black rhinos belong to other subspecies.
Range
Historically from Nigeria and Cameroon into Chad and the Central African Republic. By the late twentieth century only a possible remnant remained in northern Cameroon.
What happened
Horn poaching, not a change of Ice Age climate, ended this subspecies. Surveys in the 2000s failed to find surviving animals; the last accepted sightings were in the mid-2000s. IUCN’s 2011 assessment is the formal extinction listing. Photographs of living longipes individuals are scarce; museum skulls are the clear record.
When / status
IUCN Extinct, 2011. Last accepted wild records: mid-2000s, northern Cameroon.
Human role
The horn trade — a twenty-first-century subspecies extinction.
Sources
IUCN Red List (Diceros bicornis longipes, EX, 2011).