A 31- year- old female, Nabire, died at the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic on Monday evening due to a ruptured cyst. Her death leaves a total of 4 rhino’s (three females and a male) alive in the earth. Currently, the four rhinos are in the Pejeta Conservancy Reserve in Kenya and San Diego Zoo respectively.
There are two subspecies of Northern White Rhinos, one of which is already extinct. The subspecies (Ceratotheriumsimumcottoni) are into the brink of extinction because of hunting and habitat loss. A rhino curator at the zoo claimed the reason for Nabire’s death was because of the large cyst which was impossible to take out.
Nabire was born at the Czech Zoo and was one of the last hopes for the animal conservationists. They had long hoped to harvest eggs from her healthy ovaries to use for (IVF) In Vitro Fertilization.
An attempt was made to do this while she was still alive. After her death, the ovary was removed and taken to a specialized lab in Italy.
In 2009 four rhinos were moved from the Dvur Kralove Zoo to Kenya, hoping that the natural environment will help them in the breeding process, but the plan yielded no new births.
The only living male Northern White Rhino, Sudan 42-year-old, lives in Ol Pejeta Conservancy Reserve. Now, whether the rhinos survive or not depends upon Sudan and the other two females Najin 28-year-old and Fatu 18-year-old who are under 24-hour armed guards for protection against hunters.
