The last male standing is no longer standing. Sudan, the last male northern white rhino on earth died on Monday 19th March at the age of 45. He was old for a rhino and whilst his death is certainly sad for those on Ol Pejeta who cared for him, and for anyone who met and was inspired by him, the death of one ageing rhino like this should not necessarily be a cause for mourning. The dismay that has sprung up worldwide from conservationists, celebrities and the general public is not about the death of this rhino, but rather about what his death represents. Sudan was the last male representative of a subspecies that has been around for around a million years. Only his daughter, Najin, and granddaughter, Fatu, remain. Without any further intervention, the northern white rhino will slide to extinction.
The amount of publicity that Sudan’s death has generated can only be good for conservation. But where was all the outrage before now? Why has it taken until the effective extinction of this ancient lineage of giants for people to care? Conservation biology has famously been labelled as a ‘crisis-orientated discipline’ and the stories that attract attention are those of the doomed, of drastic declines and extinctions. Sudan is being hailed as a great ambassador for rhinos, even appearing on Tinder last year in an effort to raise awareness and funds. It is telling that only the very last male carried enough symbolic weight for this.
There is a lot of talk of northern whites living on through IVF. Ol Pejeta announced that it had collected Sudan’s ‘genetic material’ and semen from other males has been frozen in the past. Scientists from San Diego Zoo and the Leibniz Institute in Berlin are working with Ol Pejeta on attempting to remove egg cells from the two remaining females, fertilise them and insert them into southern white rhino surrogates.
Whilst it would be an amazing scientific achievement to resurrect a subspecies, serious questions hang over the endeavour. The cost has been estimated as being as much as £9 million and there are many difficulties which means that it could be impossible. Is this the best use of funds that could be used elsewhere for species that still fulfil ecological functions? If we did manage to create enough northern whites to create a viable population, where would we put them? There is very little suitable habitat left in their former range. Save the Rhino advocates letting them go and focusing efforts on other rhino species which are teetering on the brink of extinction.
Hardly anyone knows about Sumatran and Javan rhinos, both of which number fewer than 100 individuals. These amazing species sliding towards extinction because of us and they deserve our outrage and energy. I especially have a soft spot for the Sumatran rhino. Small, furry and cute, they communicate by singing, snorting and puffing. Serious and concerted effort could prevent these species going the way of the northern whites. We can’t limit our anger and our energy for moments such as the death of Sudan. For conservation to be successful, we have to apply our efforts earlier in the process decline. We have to take the fury that has been stoked up and make sure that never again do we have a last male standing.