Over 15% Of The World’s Northern White Rhino Population Died Last Night

Fact checked

And no one is talking about it.  Sad news out of Africa today, as 1 of the 7 remaining Northern White Rhino’s in existence was found dead last evening on a conservation reserve in Kenya.  According to an article in Yahoo! News, “Suni, a 34-year-old who was the first (of it’s species) to be born in captivity, was found dead on Friday by rangers at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, about 250 km (155 miles) north of Nairobi.

white rhino

There are two populations of White Rhino – the Northern and Southern.  While statistics pinpoint that about 3,000 Southern Rhinos still are alive, the death of Suni eradicated 15% of the Northern sub species.

“Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to the greed of the human race,” The Ol Pejeta Conservancy said in a statement.

Is There Hope For The Northern White Rhino?

According to PBS, “One of the last two breeding males in the world, Suni was born in the Czech Republic at Dvůr Králové Zoo and brought to Kenya in 2009 at age 29. He was the first northern white rhinoceros to be born in captivity.

Suni was brought to the sanctuary in Kenya with four other northern whites in an effort to save the subspecies’ dwindling population from extinction, reported the Associated Press.

PBS NewsHour reported on the proliferation of poaching and effort by conservationists to stave off extinction of endangered rhino species in a report on World Rhino Day, celebrated yearly on Sept. 22 since 2010.

Last year, the asking price for a rhino horn sold on the streets in Asia was higher than that for gold or platinum at approximately $65,000 per kg, reported Reuters.

Sadly, the death of Suni may signal that the curtain is closing for the majestic Northern White Rhino.

 

 

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.