Rare White Rhino Dies in US, Only Three Remain

San Diego Safari Park’s account tweeted: ‘We’re devastated by the loss of Nola.

She was euthanised after struggling with a bacterial infection and “age-related health issues”. A favorite among staffers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the female northern white rhino was loved by visitors just as much.

The animal-battling an infection and other age-related ailments-had been at the zoo since 1989. She had previously underwent a surgical procedure to remove an abscess discovered during a recent ultrasound. In response to the #Nola4Ever hashtag started by the zoo, others are sharing their Nola memories and photos.

Barbara Durrant, a reproductive physiologist at San Diego Zoo said that “The reproductive system of rhinos is very complex…much we do not know”.

An endangered northern white rhinoceros died Sunday at the San Diego Zoo, leaving only three of its kind in the world. In order to discourage poachers, his horn has been cut off by conservationists.

The last three northern white rhinos are at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

These rhinos are heavily guarded by 24-hour armed security and are restricted to a 700-acre enclosure. Because of Sudan’s age, he is unable to reproduce sexually. Scientists hope to have a new baby white rhino within the next two decades.

Northern white rhinos were declared extinct in the wild in 2008 because of poaching for their horns, prized on the black market for their supposed medicinal properties in some cultures.

This involves sequencing the species’ genome to find clues to its survival in its genetic code, and researchers are also going to try and use IVF to produce offspring using the limited amount of sperm available from Sudan.

According to National Geographic, the specific type of white rhinoceros was once robust throughout central Africa, with populations ranging from southern Chad to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

It would take a miracle to even produce another northern white rhino, let alone revive the subspecies.