Wildlife Conservation – Our species, mankind, has now officially wiped out another animal species. The rarest of the black rhino subspecies, the West African black rhinoceros, is now recognized by the ICUN as extinct. The species, was once widespread in central Africa, but the population began a steep decline due to poaching. The rhino was listed as “critically endangered” in 2008, but a survey of the animal’s last remaining habitat in northern Cameroon failed to find any sign of the rhinos, either a true sighting or even evidence of its presence, like feces or feeding signs. No West African black rhinos are known to be held in captivity.