Rare northern white rhino dies

A NORTHERN white rhino has died in Kenya (肯雅), a wildlife conservancy said recently, leaving just six left alive and bringing the famed African (非洲的) species one step closer to extinction.

While there are thousands of southern white rhinos still roaming the plains of sub-Saharan (沙哈拉沙漠以南的) Africa (非洲), decades of rampant poaching have drastically cut northern white rhino numbers.

Suni (蘇尼), the first northern white rhino born in captivity, was found dead on 17 October by rangers at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, 250km north of Nairobi (內羅比 ).

The conservancy said Suni was not poached, but the cause of his death was unclear. It added that he was one of the last two breeding males in the world as no northern white rhinos are believed to have survived in the wild.

“Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to the greed of the human race,” the conservancy said in a statement. “We will continue to do what we can to work with the remaining three animals on Ol Pejeta in the hope that our efforts will one day result in the successful birth of a northern white rhino calf.”

Rhino horn sold on the streets in Asia (亞洲) last year was more valuable than gold or platinum, with traders asking for US$65,000 (HK$504,000) per kg of rhino horn.

(Reuters, 18 October 2014)