Nearly wiped out by poachers and a highly lucrative rhino horn black market, the Northern White Rhino is on the brink of extinction – Sudan, a rhino at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, is the last male Northern White Rhino in the world.
The problem is that Sudan's horn could fetch more than $75,000 per kg (2.2 lbs), which is why heavily armed poachers have nearly eradicated this species over the last few decades.
Luckily, Sudan doesn't have to face them alone – the conservancy has an experienced team of rangers that monitor the 90,000-acre private conservation area and work together with local law enforcement agencies as well. Their tools include GPS trackers, surveillance aircraft, and dogs trained to detect humans and security breaches.
Right now, scientists are considering artificial insemination or cross-breeding the females (of which there are 5 left in the world) with similar rhino sub-species and then breeding the resulting rhinos back into pure northern white rhinos.
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency
Image credits: Dai Kurokawa/European Press Agency