The world’s northern white rhinoceros population plunged by a quarter on Sunday with a death at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. After her condition deteriorated significantly, caretakers chose to euthanise the animal, zoo officials said.
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Today, November 23, the zoo announced on Facebook that it had put Nola down, asking followers to share the hashtag #Nola4Ever in her honor.
“We’re absolutely devastated by this loss, but resolved to fight even harder to end extinction”, the park said in a statement.
The last three northern white rhinos on Earth, including the last known male, are living under armed guard and 24-hour surveillance in Kenya. Nola, a 41-year-old female that has lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 1989, was euthanized this morning after she stopped eating and her activity levels dropped. The average life span of white rhinos is 40 to 50 years.
Northern white rhino horns are sought after by poachers because powder made from the horn is used in traditional Asian medicines and believed to be a cure for many different illnesses.
White rhinos mainly occupy grassy savanna and woodlands interwoven with grassy clearings. They are thought to have the most intricate social structure of all rhino species.
If the species is to be preserved, the use of a surrogate is it’s only hope as of the three remaining northern white rhinos, only one is male.
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The northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is a subspecies of white rhinos that once ranged through Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and Cameroon. However, a small herd was found in South Africa in 1895, and breeders were able to bring back the species. The horns are in high demand in parts of Asia where a few people claim they have medicinal properties for treating everything from hangovers to cancer.
