One of last four rhinos has died

File photo: DNA from northern whites has been stored in hopes that new reproductive technologies might allow scientists to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

File photo: DNA from northern whites has been stored in hopes that new reproductive technologies might allow scientists to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

Published Nov 24, 2015

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One of the last four northern white rhinos in the world has died.

Nola, 41, pictured, who weighed 4,500lb, was nearing the upper age limit for her species and had been ill for some time.

Zookeepers in San Diego in the US decided it would be inhumane to prolong her life. The remaining three of the species – two elderly females and one elderly male – are under 24-hour armed guard in Kenya.

Nola’s death means zookeepers in San Diego are appealing for funding to save her species. Nola eggs will be harvested and kept with sperm from Angalifu, her male partner who died in December aged 42. It is hoped to use six southern white rhinos as surrogate mothers for their embryos in an experimental IVF procedure.

Another fear is that the only male in existence may not live much longer which would mean there would be no more sperm.

The population of northern whites, which originated in Uganda, Sudan and West Africa, has been destroyed by poaching. – Daily Mail

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