At 45, Sudan leaves a world of a humanity that has put its subspecies on the brink of extinction. Now, there are only two white rhinoceros females left and the only possibility to prevent their extinction is by an assisted reproduction method. A sad news since, once upon a time, there were thousands of white rhinos and now, thanks to humans, there are 2.

Sudan dies after fighting an infection in his right leg that was getting worse over the course of these weeks. In his last 24 hours he could no longer stand up, he was suffering and not showing improvement, the caregivers decided to put him down.

Sudan was a warrior and will be remembered for several reasons, one of them for having survived the extinction of his species in the 70s. For his protection, he was transferred to the Dvur Králové zoo in the Czech Republic where he lived for a while. In his last years he was able to return to Africa and spend more time in the place where he was born. Sudan became the last authentic male white rhino to say goodbye to this planet.

WHY WAS SUDAN SO FAMOUS?

His critical status, as the last white male rhinoceros, was announced with great success on the Tinder social network by a campaign launched by members of the Natural Reserve of Ol Pejeta. The goal was to raise $9 million to develop assisted fertilization techniques. In his Tinder profile it read:

“I’m unique. I am the last white male rhinoceros on planet Earth. I do not want to seem desperate, but the fate of my species depends, literally, on me. I act under pressure. I measure 1.82 meters and weigh 2,267 kilos, in case this matters. “

Why was his subspecies hunted?

Because the ivory of its horns is coveted in Asian markets for its supposed healing and aphrodisiac properties. Poaching took them to the brink of extinction, all for ivory.

FUTURE OF THE SUBSPECIES

A few months before Sudan’s death, a committee of veterinarians, ecologists and wildlife experts gathered to save the life of the last male white rhinoceros. They realized that Sudan was too old to reproduce and the only chance of survival of the subspecies was artificial fertilization.

Now, Najin, daughter of Sudan and Fatu, his granddaughter, are what is left of white rhinos. 2 who inhabit the Kenyan Nature Reserve of Ol Pejeta. There’s a plan of insemination of Najin and Fatu with Sudan sperm, but the scenario is complicated since something like this has never been attempted in rhinos.

Greed and loss of humanity in humans takes on a new victim in the animal kingdom. A pity that we will see repeated in the fate of other animals if we do not get involved and find out how life is leaving the planet and how we are responsible.

But just as there are people who want to kill them for their ivory and skin, there are people who protect them. When the number of white rhinos fell from 8 to only 3, a group of armed rangers protected them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sudan has died, we are witnessing the extinction of a species that has survived millions of years, but has not been able to survive the human being. #LifeIsDying #DontLetIt

Take a look at the 19 species that are critically endangered and also look at the eastern puma, a subspecies totally exterminated by humans.

Sources:

https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/03/20/mundo_animal/1521530509_048941.html

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS