The "northern" ones are not even a distinct species from the southerners. Granted, they haven't seen each other for a million years, but one solution would be to truck a few thousand beasts north out of South Africa. Another approach (already tried) was to interbreed the two groups. Maybe there is some distinctive DNA in the northern group, but we're not trying to rescue every distinct genome, are we? The article hints at a third solution which would probably work great except that no one likes it. This is not some varmint pest that people want to eliminate. The rhinos are "highly valued" for their ability to synthesize Viagra, or something. So instead of fighting with the poachers, sell them licenses. The poachers will have reason to keep the herd healthy and numerous. I think I have read about this being tried with elephants to some success. If the point is to keep them alive, why wouldn't we consider this?
Yes, it is sad that they are dying out. But I am not awarding a point for a species extinction. That's a lot of adjectives in the name. Only a racist biologist could tell the black ones apart. From: wasoxygen
Date: December 19, 2014 at 19:28:25 GMT+2
To: flagamuffin
Subject: northern white square-lipped lactose-intolerant rhinoceroi
Oh I don't know, if they're in the process of speciating then they'll be a different species in a while but only if we let them get there -- seems like the cost-benefit analysis is still applicable. I actually thought for a good long while about licenses, which I accept as a possible solution to emissions problems and other externalities. Ivory is a valuable commodity for art and craftsmanship, though immorally gotten -- but what if we issue licenses for things that have no value save for their importance to non-science (all in the name of protecting animals)? In 100 years, will those "trades" still be around only because of governmental legitimacy? Which method kills more elephants? I didn't have any coherent insights, so I let the email lie fallow. I need to think more about this.