One of last northern white Rhinos dies

By Park Sae-jin Posted : November 24, 2015, 14:58 Updated : November 24, 2015, 14:58
Zoo officials said that a 41-year-old northern white rhino died on Sunday (November 22) at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, leaving just three members of the critically endangered species alive worldwide.

Nola, a 41-year-old female, had been a popular attraction at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 1989 and was the only white rhino in the United States.

The park said that Nola (41) had a bacterial infection, as well as age-related health issues and that officials made the decision to euthanise her after her condition worsened overnight on Saturday.

Nola had surgery for a hip abscess on 13 November, but her condition deteriorated and she was put down. This leaves only three northern white rhino in the world, all of whom live in a Kenyan Conservancy.

According to the charity Save the Rhino, only about 29,000 rhinos remain in the wild today, down from about 500,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.

The San Diego conservancy estimated that three of the animals were killed each day. Nola had lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California, since 1989 and spent most of her time as a resident of the South Africa exhibit.

The San Diego zoo recently took possession of six female southern white rhinos -- which currently number at just over 20,000 -- from South Africa. The zoo authorities plan to save the northern white rhino from extinction by implanting its embryos into surrogates from the southern white rhino subspecies.

By Ruchi Singh
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