Sudan (rhinoceros)

Sudan was a northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni). He was born around 1973 and died on 19 March 2018. Northern white rhinoceroses are a subspecies of white rhinoceros. Sudan was a captive animal, which means people took care of him.

He lived at the Safari Park Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic from 1975 to 2009. After that, he lived for the rest of his life at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya.

When Sudan died, only three northern white rhinoceroses were still alive in the world. He was the last known male of his subspecies. Sudan was euthanised on 19 March 2018 because of "age-related complications," which are health problems that come with growing old.

Capture in Africa

In February 1975, animal trappers working for Chipperfield's Circus caught a group of six northern white rhinoceroses in Shambe, South Sudan. The group included Sudan, who was two years old. The trappers worked under an agreement with Josef Vágner. He was the director of the Dvůr Králové Zoo in Czechoslovakia, which is now the Czech Republic. The group had two males, Sudan and Saut, and four females, Nola, Nuri, Nadi and Nesari.

At that time, very few northern white rhinos were believed to be left in the wild. Many people who cared about nature felt that leaving the animals in the wild was the best way to protect this rare kind of rhino. The zoo and its partners at Chipperfield's Circus were criticized for the capture. The zoo focused on African animals and already had the largest collection of them outside Africa.

Life in the Czech Republic

In 1975, the group, including Sudan, was sent to the Dvůr Králové Zoo to be part of its northern white rhinoceros display. This zoo was the only one in the world where northern white rhinos had successfully had babies. The last calf was born there in 2000. Two years later, they were joined by Nasima. She came from Uganda, but she had lived at Knowsley Safari Park near Prescot, England. Saut was later lent to the San Diego Zoo in the United States.

After 1980, northern white rhinos were gone from Uganda and Sudan. Only 13 were left in Garamba National Park in Zaire, which is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1986, the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group of the IUCN met at Dvůr Králové Zoo to talk about how to save the small number of northern white rhinos. Ben, an older male from London, was brought to the zoo in 1986. In 1998, Saut was returned from the San Diego Zoo to Dvůr Králové Zoo. Efforts to join the group with several southern rhinos had only mixed success. Several surgeries were done on the females and their eggs. Genetic material, including Sudan's semen, was saved.

Sudan was the father of three calves in the Czech Republic and became the grandfather of one. He was the father of Nabire (dam: Nasima, studbook number 0351), who was born on 15 November 1983 and died at Dvůr Králové Zoo in July 2015. He was also the father of Najin, born in 1989 to Nasima. Najin was taken to Ol Pejeta Conservancy along with him in 2009. A third calf was born too early and died. Sudan was the grandfather of Fatu through his daughter Najin.

The second-to-last male northern white rhinoceros in the world was Angalifu. He lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with Nola until his death on 14 December 2014. Because Angalifu was too old to have babies, Sudan was the only male in the world who could still father calves. In June 2008, specialists met at Dvůr Králové Zoo to decide what to do next. The meeting included the World Zoo and Aquarium Association (WAZA) and the European Zoo and Aquarium Association (EAZA). They recommended moving Sudan and his group from the Czech Republic to Africa. Many people strongly disagreed with this idea. They said that experts and scientists were available in Europe, and that efforts to have babies could continue in the Czech Republic.

Return to Kenya

In December 2009, the rhinos were moved to Ol Pejeta Conservancy. They were part of a "Last Chance To Survive" breeding program, along with three other northern white rhinoceroses. People hoped Ol Pejeta would be a more natural home and would help the animals breed. However, breeding attempts with Sudan there did not work. Another of the rhinos, Suni, died in 2014. Sudan then spent his last years with his daughter Najin and granddaughter Fatu. Northern white rhinoceroses are guarded day and night to keep them safe from poachers, who hunt animals illegally for their horns.

At the end of 2017, Sudan developed an infection in his right hind leg. He got better for a while, but the infection came back. In March 2018 his health became much worse, even with special care. He died on 19 March 2018 from health problems linked to old age. Weeks earlier, Richard Vigne, CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, said that Sudan had not been able to have young for many years. He explained that Sudan's death would not affect the chances of saving the northern white rhino as a species. Sudan's preserved skin and the skeleton of Nabire were displayed at the National Museum in Prague, Czech Republic, until the end of 2021.

Scientific efforts to resurrect the subspecies

After Sudan died, Jan Stejskal, a spokesman for Dvůr Králové Zoo, said that scientists should use new cell technology to help protect very endangered animals. He said that, even though it may sound hard to believe, Sudan could still have offspring thanks to newly developed techniques.

Scientists are now trying in vitro fertilization with eggs from Najin and Fatu and semen from Sudan. They want to place the resulting blastocysts into suitable female southern white rhinos. In total, eggs from two females and semen from five males are now available. These could help bring back the subspecies in the future. In 2019, the team made three embryos. They are being kept in the laboratory for now. The two remaining female northern white rhinoceroses are not suitable for carrying a pregnancy, so the team plans to place the embryo in southern white rhino surrogates.

Support

In February 2015, Ol Pejeta Conservancy started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the rangers who guard the rhinos. In May 2015, two entrepreneurs, Hamid Hussain and Muhammad Yaqoob, started a worldwide campaign after they contacted Ol Pejeta Conservancy. They invited famous people to visit the conservancy and help raise money for IVF treatments and other forms of assisted reproduction. Actors Nargis Fakhri and Khaled Abol Naga were among the famous visitors who came to see Sudan.

In 2017, Ol Pejeta Conservancy worked with Tinder and Ogilvy Africa to start a campaign to help the species recover. They made a Tinder account for Sudan, the last male northern white rhino. App users could swipe right to make donations that would help develop ways to breed the rhinos. On 20 December 2020, Google showed a Doodle on its homepage to remember Sudan.