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The last male northern white rhinoceros in the world has died, leaving the sub-species perilously close to extinction. The rhino, named Sudan, was put to sleep at the Ol Pejeta reserve, north of Nairobi in Kenya. He was aged 45 in human years, 90 in rhino.
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Two female white rhinos are still alive at the reserve, and their keepers are hoping to impregnate them artificially to continue the sub-species.
Reuters reports that conservationists last year put Sudan on dating app Tinder, hoping to raise money to pay for a $9 million (£6.4m) fertility treatment.
The BBC says that the northern white rhino was largely wiped out by poaching in the 1970s and 1980s. Kenya now has an estimated 650 rhinoceroses, but they are nearly all black.
Sudan’s keepers announced his death on Twitter.
It is with great sadness that Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Dvůr Králové Zoo announce that Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino, age 45, died at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on March 19th, 2018 (yesterday). #SudanForever #TheLoneBachelorGone #Only2Left pic.twitter.com/1ncvmjZTy1
— Ol Pejeta (@OlPejeta) March 20, 2018
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