The World’s last living male northern white rhino has died

The Kenyan conservancy called Ol Pejeta was home to the world’s last living northern white rhino. Earlier this week the last living male had passed away leaving two females left of the subspecies behind. All hopes of breeding more rhinos aren’t lost as the conservancy is planning to save the species from extinction by using in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy stated that they had made the decision with the approval and direction of the wildlife officials to put down Sudan, the 45 years old white Rhino. The reasoning for him to be put down was due to the suffering he was facing from age-related complications. His condition was rapidly deteriorating that affected his bones and muscles. The complications also gave him extensive skin wounds.

Sudan’s last home was the Dver Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic before he was moved to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The conservancy is located 250kms north of Nairobi where he lived with the last two females of the species, Najin his 27 years old daughter and Fatu his 17 years old granddaughter.

The head of the wildlife conservation at Ol Pejeta, Samuel Mutisya stated that is was very sad to lose Sudan. His death clearly shows the extent of human greed and what impact human beings have had on nature. He also said that if we don’t take care of what we already have, we will continue to lose other species that are endangered and put the rest of the environment at the world at risk.

Doctor Stephen Ngulu who is a veterinarian said that the doctors recommended putting the maturing rhino down due to the severe pain that he was in. As there were no possible treatments that would alleviate the pain, for Sudan to be truly at peace he would have to be put down.

When Sudan woke up on Sunday morning he was unable to wake up at all. He was unable to support himself as his left rear foot had given in completely. With no support he laid there unable to move in complete pain. The doctors evaluated his quality of life and advised their stakeholders that putting Sudan down would alleviate his pain and suffering.

All the past attempts to get Sudan to mate naturally were unsuccessful. Conversationalists put Sudan on the dating app Tinder to help raise money to pay for a fertility treatment that is estimated to cost $9 million.

The staff at Ol Peteja had collected his specimen and plan on using IVF with the eggs from the two Southern white rhinos. The only hope for the subspecies now relies upon the success of the IVF of the last rhinos.

Daniel Baguley
Daniel Baguley
Daniel translates his passion for the digital world into his work. He truly believes that we are at the forefront of technology and is eager to see what the future holds for the public and businesses alike.
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