Unfortunately, this morning, Nola the Northern White Rhino at San Diego Zoo died at the age of 41. She was one of the last remaining Northern White Rhinos of this world. There were 4, and now there are only 3. Only one of them is male, and all of them are of great age.
Courtesy: YouTube (uploaded by ABC 10 News)
Rhino poaching has taken the toll of countless rhinos, and threatens to push the Northern White Rhinos to extinction. Their rhino horns are illegally poached, which some claim to be able to cure diseases and illnesses. Wildlife conservation programs around the world are trying to help bring back these species, one of which includes the San Diego Global Wildlife Conservancy (EndExtinction).
According to San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Instagram post earlier this morning, "Nola, who lived here since 1989, was under veterinary care for a bacterial infection, as well as age related health issues. In the last 24 hours, Nola's condition worsened and the animal care team made the difficult decision to euthanize here. We're absolutely devastated by this loss, but resolved to fight even harder to #EndExtinction."
Over the past 8 years rhino poaching has worsened drastically, peaking in 2014 with a total of 1215 rhinos killed (in comparison to 13 in 2007). Thankfully, due to conservation efforts, the numbers were brought back down to 749 this year.
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| Chart created by me on Excel Stats are from SaveTheRhino |
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| Chart created by me on Excel Stats are from SaveTheRhino |
Hopefully we can decrease these numbers even more with some little more help.....from YOU! Yes, you can help! You can choose to donate money to wildlife conservation organizations like San Diego Zoo's EndExtinction program <<here>>. If you would like to try a money-free approach, please share the news of Nola's death and the plight of Northern White Rhinos on social media with #Nola4Ever and #EndExtinction.
Fortunately, the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy has a plan to help the Northern White Rhinos. They are planning to use something similar to a surrogate pregnancy and have a Southern White Rhino carry the baby until birth (because none of the Northern White Rhinos are capable of bearing the weight of a baby rhino currently). To find out more, watch the video below and visit EndExtinction to learn about the Northern White Rhino's dark story.
Courtesy: YouTube (uploaded by San Diego Zoo Safari Park)
I think we are all mourning right now of Nola's death. Although it may seem very difficult to bring back this species when there are only 3 left on this planet, remember: Their plight is on us, and we must try to make things right. Anything is possible, and we must not lose hope.
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I hope you have learned a lot about the Northern White Rhinos in this post.
#Nola4Ever #EndExtinction
Long live Nola and the Northern White Rhinos!
~Cheri
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This is very heart broken. I have no idea there are only 3 left on this planet. I will pray that we will find a way to reproduce this species soon with the help from Southern White Rinos. If we, as human beings, don't do anything to protect the animals on this planet, there will be more extinctions like Norther White Rinos. We need to do something...
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