Only 4 northern white rhinos left on Earth ~ CNN Reports

Only 4 northern white rhinos left on Earth

By Nicole Parks, CNN

Wed July 19, 2015

Rhinos are targeted by poachers fueled by belief in Asia that their horns cure various ailments.

In Kenya where three of the four remaining northern white rhinos live, armed guards prevent poaching.

(CNN)And then there were four.

Nabire, a female northern white rhino, died of a ruptured cyst on Monday at a Czech Republic Zoo, leaving only four known northern white rhinos on Earth.

The 31-year-old rhino's cyst was so huge, it was untreatable, a rhino curator at the Dvur Kralove zoo said in a statement.

"It is a terrible loss. Nabire was the kindest rhino ever bred in our zoo. It is not just that we were very fond of her. Her death is a symbol of the catastrophic decline of rhinos due to senseless human greed," the zoo's director Premysl Rabas said in a statement.

The northern white rhino has been hunted to the brink of extinction for its horn, fueled by the belief in Asia that it cures various illnesses. The highly prized horn is made of keratin -- the same material that makes up human hair and fingernails.

The only living male, 42-year-old Sudan, lives in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, under 24-hour armed guard. His horn has been cut off to deter poachers.

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The fate of the subspecies rests on his armored shoulders, and on the two female northern white rhinos at the conservancy, Fatu and Najin, who also once lived at the Czech Republic Zoo.

"Sudan is currently old and may not be able to naturally mount and mate with a female," said George Paul, a deputy veterinarian at the conservancy.

Courtesy of : http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/world/northern-rhino-dies/index.html

*Northern white rhinos guarded as 1 male left worldwide