Sad countdown to the extinction of white rhinos. There are only 6 left on all of Planet Earth. For this Suni, the northern white rhino found lifeless in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya, was much more than unique and rare: it was vital for the survival of its species, being one of the only two remaining breeding males.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Sad countdown to theextinction of white rhinos. There are left only 6 all over the planet Earth. For this Suni, the northern white rhino found lifeless in the reserve of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, in Kenya, it was much more than unique and rare: it was vital for the survival of its species, being one of the only two remaining breeding males.
The 34-year-old animal was found dead on October 17, probably of natural causes. Intervention by poachers is excluded, as it had been monitored all day. The results of the autopsy are now awaited, which will be performed at the Kenya Wildlife Service.
The death of the rare creature means that you are all over the planet there are now only six northern white rhinos left, of which only one is male. Thus the dream that inspired Suni fades. Born at Králové Zoo Dvůr in the Czech Republic, Suni had been an emblem of hope: he was one of the very few northern rhinos sent to Africa in 2009, as part of an extreme attempt to save the species from the critical threat of extinction.
Unfortunately it didn't work. From lions to African elephants, many of the continent's species are collapsing as a result of poaching and other human causes. It also means that we are losing the important functions they play within the savannah ecosystem. Rhinos, for example, are key to keeping grasslands healthy. And now, with only one male, the prospects for the subspecies are increasingly bleak. Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, considers the animal already virtually extinct.
Roberta Ragni
Source and Photo Credit
Read also:
Poaching and climate change: the only hope for rhinos is… to fly away
The last rhinoceros of Mozambique killed
