Sudan, the worlds last Northern White Rhino, has sadly passed away at the age of 45-years-old. Thankfully there is still hope for his species and this is why…
Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino has become prominent in the news with various projects that “he” was involved in… like the time he teamed up with Tinder to raise awareness and funds for his fertility treatment. Or how the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya got him his 24-hour security detail to prevent poachers from harming him.
Today, the story is a sad one but it has a hopeful twist.
Sudan passed away after being in poor health. He was euthanised after his condition severely deteriorated. The vet on-hand, gave him the ability to go off in peace and managed to save some genetic material from the rhino.
“He was a gentle giant, his personality was just amazing and given his size, a lot of people were afraid of him. But there was nothing mean about him,” – Elodie Sampere, a representative for Ol Pejeta.
Currently, there are two female Northern White Rhino, both of whom are Sudan’s direct descendants. His daughter and granddaughter. Ol Pejeta shared a tweet detailing how they hope to continue the species. The hope is that surrogate females will be artificially inseminated with semen from other northern white rhinos.
“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.”
We can only hope that the world learns from the sad loss of Sudan and takes every measure to end all trade in rhino horn.
“While prices of rhino horn are falling in China and Vietnam, poaching for horn still threatens all rhino species,” – Peter Knights, WildAid CEO.
It is with great sadness that Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Dvůr Králové Zoo announce that Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino, age 45, died at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on March 19th, 2018 (yesterday). #SudanForever #TheLoneBachelorGone #Only2Left pic.twitter.com/1ncvmjZTy1
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— Ol Pejeta (@OlPejeta) March 20, 2018
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.
— Ol Pejeta (@OlPejeta) March 20, 2018
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