And today (September 22) marks World Rhino Day, celebrating this majestic animal and raising awareness of its plight.
At 42-years-old, Sudan is the only living male Northern White Rhino left in the entire world.
With an average life expectancy of 40, Sudan’s clock is ticking, and the not for profit organization Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya is doing everything in its power to save the Northern White Rhino.
Sudan was moved to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a 90,000-acre conservancy in Central Kenya in 2009 in an attempt to save the species.
Sudan has the fate of an entire species on his shoulders.
He occupies at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy with two female Northern White Rhinos, Fatu, 15 and Najin, 25.
For his own protection, Sudan has had his horn removed to lessen the threat of poaching, and will live out the rest of his days under the 24-hour surveillance of four armed guards.
Well-funded, deadly and equipped with the newest technology such as drones, it is no easy task to prevent determined poachers. Sudan is now seen as the everlasting image of the illegal wildlife trade that is now one of the largest international organised crimes in the world.
The northern white rhino is a subspecies of white rhino, which used to range over parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Years of widespread poaching and civil war in their home range have devastated northern white rhino populations, and they are now considered to be extinct in the wild.
Ol Pejeta conservancy is undertaking a Northern White Rhino breeding project as part of a global effort, The breeding project is now working on an In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) via a surrogate of a Southern White Rhino.
The only way now to ensure the survival of the Northern White Rhino subspecies is to raise funds to support these assisted reproduction methods. While this does not come without risks (and significant costs) – all other options have been exhausted and time is running out.
Visitors to Ol Pejeta Conservancy will not only have the opportunity to support Sudan, Najin and Fatu, but as East Africa’s Largest Black Rhino Sanctuary, Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to 8 black rhinos.
You could also make a donation to help more conservation activities for these endangered species. Aside from black rhinos, O.P.C is also home to a founder population of 11 southern white rhinos.
To find out how you could visit Ol Pejeta Conservancy, or to support the work of those working on the Northern White Rhino’s breeding project as well as ensuring the same fate doesn’t await other rhino species visit the Magical Kenya website or click here
