Northern White Rhino: Google Doodle remembers Sudan, the World’s Last Male Northern White Rhinoceros

Google Doodle remembers Sudan, the world’s last male surviving Northern White Rhino, known as an affectionate “gentle giant,” on December 20, 2020.

Sudan was born in Shambe, in what is today, South Sudan sometime in 1973 — potentially as the last northern white rhino to be born in the wild — and taken in by the Dvůr Králové Zoo in 1975.

After a year, he was taken to Dvůr Králové Zoo in then Czechoslovakia, where he grew to be 6 feet tall and an astounding 5,000 lbs (generally the weight of a moderate size car) and fathered two daughters.

In 1976, he was taken to Dvůr Králové Zoo in Czechoslovakia (presently the Czech Republic), the only zoo in the world where northern white rhinos have effectively given birth. There, Sudan fathered three calves and became the grandfather of one.

Indeed, even around then, the northern white rhinoceros was an endangered species with just about 500 living in the wild and captivity. Before the finish of the 1980s, the populace had dwindled to only fifteen because of poachers, exclusively hunting the rhinos for their horns.

To attempt to urge the species to repopulate, the Dvůr Králové Zoo and different conservation associations concluded that the remaining white rhinos in captivity should be moved from the zoo in the Czech Republic back to Africa.

In 2009, after the northern white rhino was proclaimed extinct in the wild, four rhinos including Sudan, his daughter Najin, and his granddaughter Fatu were moved back to their native African habitat.

Conservationists trusted that the natural Kenyan environment of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy would empower breeding among the rhinos, yet within several years, veterinarians concluded that natural reproduction would in all likelihood not be conceivable.

On December 20, 2009, Sudan, who at the time was the last fertile male northern white rhino, and the excess female populace were moved to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

The four were moved back to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in 2009 after the northern white rhino was pronounced extinct in the wild. Conservationists had trusted that being in their natural K. enyan habitat would empower reproduction among the rhinos, yet those efforts were unsuccessful.

Lamentably, regardless of their earnest attempts, Sudan couldn’t sire any calves before his death in 2018, caused by complications of his old age.

Sudan spent the last years of his life with his daughter Najin and granddaughter Fatu before being euthanized in 2018 at 45 years old.

Sudan, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 45 (What might be compared to 90 in human years), serves as an appreciated symbol of ongoing rhino conservation efforts and a stark reminder of the threat of extinction that endless species face today.

His passing left just two females – his daughter and granddaughter – of the subspecies alive in the world.

The possibility of losing the charismatic animals has incited an unusual scientific exertion to grow new regenerative technology to save them.

Sudan, who was what could be compared to 90 in human years, was the last surviving male of the more extraordinary variety after the natural death of a second male in late 2014.

However, there is still an expectation, as researchers work to create in vitro fertilization procedures to save the subspecies from the verge of elimination. For now, Sudan’s legacy rests with Najin and Fatu, the world’s last two northern white rhinoceros.

Today, there are just two known northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, the two females, making the species successfully extinct. Nonetheless, researchers are proceeding to explore different avenues regarding in-vitro fertilization in progressing endeavors to save the northern white rhino.

Indeed, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy has an ongoing campaign to raise the funds important to attempt birthing a northern white rhino through a surrogate.

Google Doodle for Remembering Sudan, the Last Male Northern White Rhino

On December 20, 2020, Google pays tribute to Sudan, the Last Male Northern White Rhino with Google Doodle.

The Doodle recognizes the anniversary of the day in 2009 when Sudan and three other northern white rhinos showed up at their new home at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

The present Google Doodle is an unfathomably significant bit of artwork, portraying Sudan, a northern white rhino, and the last male of his subspecies.

In Google Doodle representation, Sudan is seen walking in the midst of bushes in an orange field filled with pretty trees and flowers.