As the Last Northern White Male Rhino Dies, Scientists Look to IVF to Save the Subspecies

Typography

Sudan, the world’s last remaining male northern white rhino, has died at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya — pushing the species even closer to extinction after decades of poaching. Just two females of the subspecies remain alive today, Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter.

Sudan, the world’s last remaining male northern white rhino, has died at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya — pushing the species even closer to extinction after decades of poaching. Just two females of the subspecies remain alive today, Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter.

“Sudan was the last northern white rhino that was born in the wild,” Jan Stejskal of Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, where Sudan lived until 2009, told the AFP news agency. “His death is a cruel symbol of human disregard for nature and it saddened everyone who knew him.”

Sudan was 45 years old when he died, the equivalent of 90 in human years. He had been struggling with declining health for several years and had recently suffered a series of infections.

Read more at Yale Environment 360

Image: The world's last male northern white rhino at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. CREDIT: Ol Pejeta Conservancy