Last Male Northern Subspecies of White Rhinos Dies

Sudan, the last male northern white rhino on Earth, has died in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya after being ill for months. Only two females remain – Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter.

The 45-year-old rhino was put to sleep Monday after complications related to age increased recently, the BBC News reported. Conservancy officials said they hope to keep the northern white rhino subspecies alive through the development of vitro fertilization technology.

Northern white rhinos were once found in land crossing Uganda, Chad, southwestern Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, National Public Radio reported.

Some 2,000 existed in 1960, according to the World Wildlife Fund, but war and the poaching that financed the disputes drove them to the edge of extinction.

Ol Pejeta recognized Sudan in a series of Twitter messages posted Tuesday.

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

— Ol Pejeta (@OlPejeta) March 20, 2018

Sudan will be remembered for his unusually memorable life. In the 1970s, he escaped extinction of his kind in the wild when he was moved to Dvůr Králové Zoo. Throughout his existence, he significantly contributed to survival of his species as he sired two females.

— Ol Pejeta (@OlPejeta) March 20, 2018

Sudan was captured in the Sudan in 1975 when he was two years ago and was taken to the Czech Republic's Dvůr Králové Zoo, NPR said. The zoo fell into financial troubles and rhinos there failed to breed.

That led to Sudan being relocated to the conservancy in 2009 with the two northern white rhino females named Najin and Fatu.

Some claimed that Sudan's death was a warning sign for other species facing extinction.

What hope there is for the Northern White is due to the tremendous work of @OlPajeta and others, but we simply shouldn’t be in this position. Sudan’s death should be taken as a warning bell. Time is running out for too many species. #SudanForever

— Paul Heffernan (@61moonraker) March 20, 2018

And shows what man is capable of - destroying a species - heartbreaking

— Debby Thorne (@wildfreckle) March 20, 2018

So very very sad that the species 'human' has allowed this to happen.

— peter burton (@peteswildlife) March 20, 2018

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