The Sixth Extinction: Chapter 11

This chapter speaks on the various ways that people are trying to save endangered species, in this case the species is the Sumatran Rhinos. The Rhinos that were once common are now endangered so a small amount of rhinos were sent to the U. S in hopes that they could find a way to save the species. In the transaction process many of the Rhinos died because of disease and also because the zoos experienced a learning gap where they didn’t know how to take proper care of them. There are now only five of these rhinos left on the planet, and one of them is kept in the Cincinnati Zoo. The rhino is named Suci and is one of the only two rhinos that have been born in the last three decades. One reason for why these rhinos are near the point of extinction is because of trophy hunting, oftentimes this is done to collect its tusk and sell it for profit. Similarly to the largest animals to have ceased existence, the Suci is a peaceful herbivore. Kolbert assumes that there must be a link for why these species become extinct and set out to find it. One theory, made by Charles Lyell, is that climate change and their inability to adapt killed them. The other theory is that humans killed them off, implying that we are capable of causing another species extinction. Many scientists claiming that humans ability to kill such large animals in the ice age rejected this theory because it was just impossible. John Alroy responded to this by hypnotizing that groups of humans could have killed off these animals with nearly any effort. The main reason for this is that although these animals were big, they were also peaceful and could barely defend themselves. In addition to this, the animals were not able to adapt to this new predator because it didn’t have the time because after all evolution is something that happens gradually.

This chapter connects to the APES theme that environmental problems have a cultural and social context. This is since the endangerment and even extinction of these large animals have all had a connection to human beings culture and stability. As Alfred Russel Wallace puts it, the disappearance of these large animals means “a much better world for us now they are gone.” (Kolbert 226) This goes to say that the disappearance of these large animals have impacted the comfort of humanity, indicating that their disappearance was necessary for humanity to flourish.