Tony Karumba, AFP/Getty Images
Following age-related complications, Sudan the last male northern white rhinoceros alive was euthanized by a team of vets in Kenya in March 2018. Sudan, who was 45 years old at the time, was one of only three northern white rhinos left on earth and the last male of his subspecies. For years, Sudan had represented the final hope for the survival of his kind, but before his death scientists came up with a back-up plan: Collecting Sudan s sperm so that they might be able to continue his genetic line even after his death.
Northern white rhino numbers dwindled from 2000 in 1960 to only three in recent years. Those last survivors, Sudan, his daughter Najin, and granddaughter Fatu, lived together at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Each animal had physical issues making it difficult for them to breed, and with Sudan gone, a new generation of northern white rhinos looks even less likely.