And Then There Were Two…
On Monday, March 20, Sudan, the last male northern white rhinoceros died at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, leaving behind his daughter, Najin and his granddaughter, Fatu who are the last northern white rhinos in the world. An elderly rhino at age 45, Sudan was suffering from a series of infections and health issues.
A subspecies of the southern white rhino, and arguably considered their own species by some researchers, the northern white rhino was brought to extinction by war, habitat loss and poaching for their horns. “’This is a creature that didn’t fail in evolution,’ said Thomas Hildebrandt, head of reproduction management at the Leibnitz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin and one of the project’s leaders. ‘It’s in this situation because of us.’”
Scientists across the world and across disciplines are taking on the challenge of keeping the northern white rhino subspecies from disappearing completely. They intend to use a combination of classic reproduction techniques and innovative stem cell technology. To find out more, read the complete article here.
Related News
Australian artists unveil 17-Foot bronze sculpture in Astor Place NYC. The sculpture is entitled “The Last Three.” Read the full article from One Green Planet.
Trump Appoints Trophy Hunters to Conservation Board
Interior secretary Ryan Zinke has appointed 16 board members to rewrite federal rules for importing the hides of trophy kills into the US. Zinke is confident that the board, the majority of which are trophy hunters themselves or members of the NRA, will support his stance that the best way to protect critically threatened or endangered species is by encouraging trophy hunting in several African nations. One member of the board, Steven Chancellor, has logged nearly 500 kills including 18 lions, 13 leopards, six elephants and two rhinos. Another board member, Peter Horn is a former vice president of the Safari Club International Conservation Fund, a group interested in expanding the number of countries from which trophy kills can be imported, and a vice president for high-end gun maker Beretta. To read more, find the complete article here.
Related News
The ban on Elephant and Lion trophies from six African countries has been lifted. Read the full article from the New York Times.
Continue reading: WMC Conservation Newsletter March 2018
By: Kate Keets, WMC Conservation Chair, Class of 2021
