A photo from open sources
On Monday, March 19, the last on the planet died in Kenya male northern white rhino named Sudan. White rhino are the largest rhinos, and once they lived throughout territories of the African continent, however by the middle of the 20th century their the population began to total only about 2000 individuals. In 2006 the last northern white rhinos were shot by poachers living in the wild.
3 years ago, only Sudan remained in the Kenyan reserve, and also his daughter and granddaughter. The male suffered from serious age ailments, so the specialists had to reluctantly put him to sleep. The animal lived to be 45 years old, which is approximately 90 years old. to human standards. The rhino was guarded around the clock from poachers, however, his poor health forced employees of the reserve to personally kill the artiodactyl.
A photo from open sources
Due to its impressive age, Sudan suffered from muscle degeneration, fragility of bones and diseased skin. In his last days no longer had the strength to stand up or eat. Before you enter lethal injection to the animal, the doctors collected from him a genetic material. There is a small chance that using it will succeed fertilize the two remaining females, however many specialists consider, that it is already almost impossible to keep a look.
Poachers, because of which this species is almost extinct, destroyed white rhinos for their horns. In many african cultures there is a superstition that the powder from the white rhino horn possesses almost magical healing power and cures humans are the most serious diseases. In order to protect endangered animals from attacks of poachers, guards shot at criminals without warnings, however, even this last resort did not help and did not has discouraged poachers from illegally hunting rhinos. Prices for them horns on the black market are too high for people to give up such an easy income.
