NAIROBI – The world’s last male northern white rhino, age 45, has died after months of illness at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on Monday, his carers said.
https://twitter.com/OlPejeta/status/975972162623418368
Ol Pejeta, where the deceased rhino lived, in a tweet said that Sudan was being treated for age-related complications that led to degenerative changes in muscles and bones combined with extensive skin wounds.
The condition of last male white rhino worsened significantly that he was unable to stand up and was suffering a great deal.
His death leaves just two female northern white rhinos on the planet; his daughter Najin and her daughter Fatu, who remain at Ol Pejeta.
The wildlife conservancy says, “The only hope for the preservation of this subspecies now lies in developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques using eggs from the two remaining females, stored northern white rhino semen from males and surrogate southern white rhino females”.
https://twitter.com/OlPejeta/status/975972189978710016
Born in the wild in Sudan in 1973, Sudan has subsequently evolved into a legend – in part due to his status as the last male member of a rhino subspecies. He was captured in Sudan shortly after birth in 1975 and taken to Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic along with 5 other northern white rhinos.
He lived at Dvůr Králové Zoo until December 2009 when he was relocated to Ol Pejeta Conservancy together with three other northern white rhinos – Suni (deceased), Najin and Fatu.
The deaths of Suni and Angalifu in 2014 – two of the three remaining males – suddenly brought the impending end to this magnificent species of animal to everyone’s attention. This left Sudan in an extraordinary position – the last male of his species.
