A photo of one of the last Western Black Rhinos

Despite being warned again and again, everyone loves to keep on doing the same thing again and again and yet still expect a different result. Daniel Kahneman gives some insights into why individuals make this mistake.

Unfortunately, governments are even worse. Perhaps that is because they represent an average of the thinking of lots of people, many of whom have no knowledge of, or interest in, the issues associated with endangered species. As Peter Scott and his colleagues recognised with the foundation of WWF in 1961, a small group of dedicated people is needed to fill the gaps where governments are unable or unwilling to make the right decisions. Government of Malaysia and Sabah are now making all the right decisions, but too late to save the Sumatran rhino alone. Sumatran rhino will be saved now only by deciding what needs to be done for the species, and not being sidelined by thinking whether they are Malaysian or Indonesian rhinos, and who owns them.

Here is a collection of historic correspondence from the 1980s pertaining to Sumatran rhinos in Borneo. Regrettably, it did not result in the timely intervention which may have made the critical difference to the survival of this species.

1980 Historic correspondence

1982 Historic correspondence

1983 Historic correspondence

1984 Historic correspondence

1985 Historic correspondence

1986 Historic correspondence

1987 Historic correspondence

Further reading on extinction

How the Western Black Rhino Went Extinct

10 odd ways we protect endangered species

10 animals presumed extinct in the last decade