Semen was collected from him, and from other captive males, before they died. This may not be the end of Sudan’s story. We are trying to tell everyone that rhino horn does not possess any medicinal value. If there was no poaching, there would still be good wild populations of northern white rhinos. They continue to help raise awareness of rhino conservation. I’m still working hard to ensure the two remaining northern white rhinos are content and in good condition for the rest of their lives. He was a great ambassador for all rhinos, not just his own kind. We held a memorial service for him, which helped. Eventually, the vets had to put him to sleep. He received medication, but by the end he was struggling to get up and wasn’t able to walk outside. Unfortunately Sudan developed an infection in his hind leg and then suffered from sores. While rhinos can live to 60 in captivity, their life expectancy in the wild is in their 40s. If he needed medical attention, we didn’t have to sedate him we could just stroke the tips of his ears. Rhinos have a good sense of hearing and smell, and they would come towards us when we called. If he needed treatment, we didn’t have to sedate him, we just stroked his earsĪs Sudan, Najin and Fatu were brought up in a zoo, they knew their names. Unfortunately Sudan was overpowered by the females we had to send him away for his own safety. A male rhino has to fight a female first and win that fight before he is allowed to mate. Even as he aged, Sudan showed plenty of interest in mating with female southern white rhinos. In 2014, Suni died, leaving Sudan as the last male northern white rhino. They shared their enclosure with southern white rhinos, a subspecies that still survives in reasonable numbers in the wild. They had been in small pens and now they roamed a 700-acre enclosure, under 24-hour guard. When they came home, the rhinos were so excited. I have been among the team caring for them at Ol Pejeta Conservancy since. Together with Suni, another male northern white rhino, this family was returned to Africa in 2009.
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