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‘And then there were four,’ Czech zoo’s northern white rhino dies

Nabire died on Monday, July 27, at the same zoo where she was born, said the statement from the Czech zoo. Now, with her death, there are only four remaining northern white rhinos (NWR) left on Earth, three females of this subspecies and one male, Sudan, who lives in Kenya.

Nabire was born in captivity on Nov. 15, 1983 at the zoo that was to be her only home. She was plagued with uterine cysts, which prevented her from breeding naturally. It was always the hope of conservationists that by obtaining eggs from her healthy left ovary, they could be used in in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

The goal was to artificially fertilize an egg using sperm from Sudan, or frozen white rhino sperm from a long dead animal. The egg would then be transplanted into a southern white rhino, the closest relative to the rare northern white rhino. But this scenario was not to be for Naribe because her condition proved to be fatal.

In a fitting tribute to Naribe, Přemysl Rabas, the director of the zoo, said in the zoo’s statement, “It is a terrible loss. Nabiré 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 a senseless human greed. Her species is on the very brink of extinction.”

The plight of the few remaining northern white rhinos is well documented. The San Diego Zoo, in California has one elderly female, Nola, too old to reproduce. Nola is the only surviving female outside of Africa. The other two female NWRs, Najin and Fatu, live with 40-year-old Sudan in the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

The 350 square kilometer (90,000 acres) wildlife conservancy is home to the three northern white rhinos, 105 black rhinos, and 23 white rhinos. The remaining male NWR, Sudan is protected 24/7 by armed rangers. His story was documented in Digital Journal in April of this year.

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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