Rare animal, Sudan, was euthanized by Kenyan vets last week as, after months of illnesses, he was no longer able to stand.
The last remaining male northern white rhino, Sudan, died last week in Kenya due to ‘’age-related complications’’, the vets who were looking after his upkeep have announced.
Ol Pejeta, the Conservancy where Sudan lived for the last few years of his life, said that the 45-year-old white rhino was suffering from extensive skin wounds, bone deterioration, and muscle problems for the last few years.
Consequently, after his condition deteriorated to an irreparable extent last week, with Sudan no longer able to stand on his own, the Conservancy took the decision to euthanize him.
Sudan was one of the remaining few members of the White Northern Rhino, a subspecies which is now on the verge of extinction. After his death, only two more members of the species, both female, represent the endangered species.
Last year saw a desperate effort to not only save Sudan but also to extend the members of his species by getting him to mate. So furious were the efforts that, at one time, conservationists even put Sudan on Tinder, hoping that it would be enough to raise $9m, the money required for his fertility treatment.
When he was healthy, Sudan lived in the Czech Republic inside the Dver Kralove Zoo. It was only when his health took a turn for the worse that he was transported to Ol Pejeta, where two females of his species currently live.
Sudan is the 2nd, and probably the last male of the White Northern rhino species to have died at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in the last few years. Four years ago, another white rhino male, Suni, died at the same conservancy, probably from a heart attack.
However, while they were brought to the Conservancy at different times, one thing was in common between Suni and Sudan: their old age. And it was their old age which, despite furious efforts from the conservationists, didn’t allow both to be fertile and extend their species.
