Last male Northern White Rhino dies

By Megan Palko, Contributing Writer

Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, has died. According to ABC News, his death was announced this past Tuesday by the conservation organization in Kenya caring for him.

The beloved rhino was 45-year-old and his health was in decline due to age-related complications, leading to his euthanization. ABC News stated that the changes in muscles and bones combined with extensive skin wounds were the cause of Sudan’s failing health. Within the last 24 hours of his life, Sudan was in pain and unable to stand. The difficult decision of Sudan’s fate was made by Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Dvur Kralove Zoo.

With Sundan gone, the only two northern white rhinos alive today include Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter, Najin and Fatu. The survival of the species now depends on the health of these two females. According to ABC News, through in vitro fertilization, Najin and Fatu can possibly reproduce using the semen from dead northern white rhinos stored around the world. However, the New York Times has stated that neither of the females are able to carry a pregnancy to term. Hopefully, through fertilizing the eggs in vitro with banked sperm, the embryos will have a chance in a surrogate southern white rhino female.

According to the New York Times, more than 2,000 northern white rhinos used to roam east and central Africa in 1960. Being a subspecies of the more abundant southern white rhinos, northern white rhinos like Sudan have hairier ears, different dental structures and a smaller body. With these differences, some scientists think that the species should be considered separate.

These animals that once flourished in Africa have been victims of war, habitat loss, and poaching, decimating the population. The New York Times states that in 2008, researchers couldn’t even find the northern white rhinos in the wild anymore. However, many zoos and conservation organizations were able to capture and protect a number of the rhinos, including Sudan.

In a New York Times article, Jan Stejskal states that “Sudan is an extreme symbol of human disregard for nature.” The director of international projects at the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic (where Sudan spent the majority of his life) says that, “He survived extinction of his kind in the wild only thanks to living in a zoo.”

Cathy Dean told the New York Times that “every rhino species in under threat. It may be too late for the northern white rhinos, but we still have time to save all the other species.”