White Rhino Almost Extinct, Death Of Breeding Male Puts Species On The Brink

The northern white rhino is almost extinct, with the death of a 34-year-old breeding male named Suni taking the species one more step toward oblivion.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, the western black rhino went extinct last year, and conservationists have lamented that the rarity of various types of rhinos make them a primary target for poachers, who could potentially bring back a large amount of money for pieces of the animals. There are even people who are willing to pay $350,000 in order to kill black rhinos from other parts of Africa.

The white rhino named Suni was found dead on Friday by rangers at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

“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.”

The white rhino was one of two of the last breeding males of the endangered species. He was the first northern white rhino to be born in captivity, but had been moved to Kenya in 2009 in an attempt to prevent the extinction of the northern white rhino. With Suni dead, only six other white rhinos remain in the entire world.

According to The Independent, the cause of death for Suni is unclear although they can safely rule out poachers. Vets at the Kenya Wildlife Service plan on doing a post mortem to determine why the white rhino passed away.

The only good news is that only the northern white rhino is in danger of extinction. The number of southern white rhinos still number in the thousands.