It's a story that's gone viral - massively.

But neither the western black rhino - nor any other subspecies - have just been made extinct. That actually happened in 2011.

In fact, from 2006, the journal Pachyderm publishing a study from Cameroon called "Probable extinction of the western black rhino".

Which doesn't make the story less sad - but does mean that it hasn't just happened.

It all started after this tweet...

He's right as it is the last male northern white rhino on earth but there are also four female northern white rhinos.

Between 1960 and 1995, it's been estimated that 98% of black rhinos were killed by poachers, mostly for their horns, which are prized in traditional Chinese medicine.

By 1980, there were 135 western black rhinos left, from an estimated one million (of all subspecies) in 1900.

By 1997, 10 were left.

Four lived close together, the other six were vast distances from each other.

They couldn't breed, weren't properly protected and were doomed to be picked off by poachers - the last one was spotted in 2001.

Extinction was officially declared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2011.

They wrote: "The subspecies of the White Rhino in central Africa, the Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is teetering on the brink of extinction and has been listed as possibly extinct in the wild."

That subspecies currently numbers five, all in captivity.

The last surviving male, known as Sudan, is under 24-hour armed guard and has had his horn sawn off to protect him from poachers.

The only other male died several months ago, reportedly of natural causes.

In 1960, there were estimated to be 2,000 northern white rhinos. By the mid 1980s, there were 15.

So although the pictures going around are misleading, that's no less reason to mourn the loss of the subspecies.

It should be noted that overall, rhino numbers are increasing - thanks to conservation efforts the number of southern white rhinos has gone from around 50 to more than 20,000 since 1990 - the vast majority of the 30,000 odd rhinos remaining in total.

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