The Sixth Extinction: Chapter 11

     In Chapter 11, Kolbert goes to the Cincinnati Zoo to meet Suci, a rhinoceros. Dr. Terri Roth, the conservation director for the zoo, tells Kolbert that Suci is a Sumatran rhinoceros, one of only five rhino species left on the planet. Sumatran rhinos are small and endangered. Roth had tried to artificially inseminate Suci, but it failed. A conservation group decided to send a small number of Sumatran rhinos to American zoos in hopes of captive breeding. However, five of the rhinos died because of a disease spread by flies. Several rhinos captured in Borneo also died from tetanus and other injuries. By this time, there were only three Sumatran rhinos in the U.S. Roth had tried to inseminate a rhino named Emi, who was living in a zoo in Los Angeles. After many failures, Emi finally birthed Suci and Harapan. Other large mammals, such as elephants, jaguars, pandas, and cheetahs, now exist mostly or entirely in zoos and preserves, where scientists are trying to get them to bear offspring. After looking at Suci, Kolbert goes to Big Bone Lick to figure out why most of the extinct species are large animals. 19th century fossil-hunters discovered some of the world’s most famous fossils and they believed that humans were responsible for the mass-extinction of large mammals. The extinction of large mammals took place in pulses not as one continuous event. And, large mammals had survived numerous droughts and other environmental catastrophes before the arrival of human beings. Today, most of the large mammals of the ancient world have died out, and smaller mammals like the rhinoceros are on the verge of extinction.

     The theme that most resonated with this chapter is humans alter natural systems through advances in science. In the chapter it states, “Emi, the female from Los Angeles, seemed to be the right age but never seemed to ovulate, a puzzle that took Roth nearly a year to solve. Once she realized what the problem-that the rhino needed to sense a male around-she began to arrange brief, carefully monitored dates between Emi and Ipuh. After a few months of foolin around, Emi got pregnant. Then she lost the pregnancy. She got pregnant again, and the same thing happened. This pattern kept repeating, for a total of five miscarriages… Emi got pregnant again in the fall of 2000. This time, Roth put her on liquid hormone supplements, which the rhino ingested in progesterone-soaked slices of bread…” (Pgs. 220-221) (C) I can connect this to what I learned over the summer. In a program I learned about captive breeding. Many scientists did this because they wanted to save species from going extinct by putting them in sanctuaries like the zoo and using the principles of natural selection to create more animals. Even though this process was successful most of the time, it also had its downs. The rhinos usually had a hard time adapting to their new environment and whenever scientists forced them to mate, it usually would never happen. Humans are the cause for their rapid demise, scientists are still trying to save these animals with the use of modern science. 

By: Mousumi Dhar