After months of ill health, Sudan, the world's last male white northern rhino has died at the age of 45, confirmed officials at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
The conservancy said that Sudan was put to sleep on Monday after age-related complications affected his health severely. The death of Sudan also marks the partial end of white northern rhino species on the earth, as now the only rhinos in this species remaining in the world are his daughter and the granddaughter.
As no, male members of this species are alive on the planet now, these rare rhinos will soon get wiped out from the earth's surface. Experts believe that the only way to save this rare species from extinction is using in-vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques.
Researchers have succeeded to save some of the genetical materials of Sudan, it is expected to help future attempts to artificially inseminate on one of the female rhinos left.
Previously, scientists had used Sudan to prolong the species with two existing females, but all the attempts failed. Later, researchers and wildlife enthusiasts created a profile of him in the Tinder dating app to procure fund for the development of IVF for white rhinos. Sudan soon became an overnight star in Tinder, he got many followers who are now mourning his death.
"He was a gentle giant, his personality was just amazing and given his size, a lot of people were afraid of him. But there was nothing mean about him," said Elodie Sampere, a spokesperson for Ol Pejeta Conservancy, CNN reports.
During his last days, Sudan faced difficulties to stand up, and his sperm count was also reduced drastically. As his semen is now stored in laboratory conditions, let us hope that scientists will succeed in recreating another white northern rhino by fusing it with the eggs of the females left behind.
