Northern white rhinoceros explained

The northern white rhinoceros or northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the southern white rhinoceros). This subspecies is a grazer in grasslands and savanna woodlands. Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Africa south of the Sahara, since 19 March 2018, there are only two known rhinos of this subspecies left, named Najin and Fatu,[1] both of which are female; barring the existence of unknown or misclassified male northern white rhinos elsewhere in Africa, this makes the subspecies functionally extinct. The two female rhinos belong to the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic but live in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya where they are protected by armed guards.

According to the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessment from 2020, the subspecies is considered "Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild)."[2]

Taxonomy

Following the phylogenetic species concept, a study in 2010 suggested the northern white rhinoceros may be an altogether different species, rather than a subspecies of white rhinoceros, in which case its correct scientific name would be Ceratotherium cottoni. According to the study, distinct morphological and genetic differences suggest the northern white rhinoceros and southern white rhinoceros have been separated for at least a million years.[3] However, the results of this research were not universally accepted by other scientists. A study in 2016 concluded that the two populations diverged between 0.46 and 0.97 million years ago and found their mitochondrial genomes to be 1.8 % divergent. Based on these findings, the study concluded that classification as a subspecies was appropriate.[4]

Living rhinos

Ol Pejeta Conservancy

There are now only two northern white rhinos left in the world:

They both belong to the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic, but live in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, Africa.[8] They arrived at the conservancy after an air and road trip on 20 December 2009,[9] along with two male northern white rhinos from the Dvůr Králové Zoo, Suni and Sudan. However, Suni, a male born at Dvůr Králové Zoo in 1980, died from natural causes in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in 2014.[10] [11] Sudan, caught from the wild in 1975, died on 19 March 2018.[6] [12] [13]

After the transport, the four rhinos were under constant watch by specialists and staff and lived in specially constructed bomas with access to a 400× paddock area, allowing them to acclimatize to their new surroundings. Ol Pejeta provides 24-hour armed security for the rhino enclosure. To prevent any unnecessary injuries they might inflict on each other while interacting in their fenced area, and give their horns an opportunity to regrow to a natural shape (as their front horns had grown bent by much rubbing against enclosure bars in captivity), all the rhinos were sedated and their horns were sawn off. This also made them less vulnerable to the poaching that drove their species to near extinction, as the horn is what the poachers are after. In place of their horns, radio transmitters have been installed to allow closer monitoring of their whereabouts.[14] They are protected round-the-clock by armed guards.[15] Poachers have been selling their horns for $110,000 per kilogram ($50,000 per pound).[16]

Since May 2010, the northern white rhino male Sudan was moved from the initial holding pens to a much larger 700acres semiwild enclosure. There he roamed among many African animals, including several southern white rhino females and many plains animals. On 26 October 2011, the females were coaxed into the larger enclosure.

Until 2011, the progress of this attempt at saving the northern white rhinoceros was documented on the initiative's website;[17] and their life in Ol Pejeta Conservancy is commented on the Conservancy's website. Several documentaries are in the works, including an episode of Ol Pejeta Diaries titled "Return of the African Titans" for Oasis HD Canada in fall 2010, and a follow-up half-hour episode to follow. This translocation was also the subject of a special edition of the BBC's Last Chance to See, titled "Return of the Rhino",[18] presented by Stephen Fry and the zoologist Mark Carwardine.

On 25 April 2012, and on 27 May 2012, Suni and Najin mated.[19] Pregnancy of the female rhinos was monitored weekly.[20] Rhinoceros gestation takes 16 to 18 months,[21] so in January 2014 the Conservancy considered Najin not pregnant, and a male southern white rhino from Lewa Wildlife Conservancy was put to Najin and Fatu enclosure in Ol Pejeta to at least intercross the subspecies. To achieve this, both female northern white rhinos were separated from their male counterparts, which prevented them from producing a pure northern white rhino offspring.[22] [23] In 2015, however, tests conducted by Czech specialists revealed that neither of the females are "capable of natural reproduction".[24] [25] According to the director of the Dvůr Králové Zoo, it was possible Najin became pregnant but miscarried shortly thereafter, which resulted in pathological changes in her uterus, preventing another impregnation.[26]

Assisted reproduction

At the end of 2015, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, San Diego Zoo Global, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, and Dvůr Králové Zoo developed a plan to reproduce northern white rhinos using natural gametes of the living rhinos and induced pluripotent stem cells. Subsequently, in the future, it might be possible to specifically mature the cells into specific cells such as neurons and muscle cells, in a similar way in which Katsuhiko Hayashi has grown mouse oocytes out of simple skin cells. The DNA of a dozen northern white rhinos has been preserved in genetic banks in Berlin and San Diego.[27]

In August 2019, ten egg cells (five from Najin and five from Fatu) were harvested to be artificially inseminated with the frozen sperm of a northern white rhino as part of a project by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Dvůr Králové Zoo, Kenya Wildlife Service, and Avantea.[28] In September 2019, scientists announced that they fertilized in vitro the eggs with frozen sperm taken from dead males; two of the resulting embryos were viable. In January 2020, it was announced that another embryo was created using the same techniques; all three embryos are from Fatu.[29] These embryos are being stored in liquid nitrogen until they can be placed into a surrogate mother, probably a southern white rhino.[30] In December 2020, 14 egg cells were retrieved from Fatu; eight of them were fertilised by the sperm of the dead northern white rhino Suni, resulting in two viable embryos. No egg cells were retrieved from Najin.[31], there are 30 northern white rhino embryos that have been created by BioRescue.[32] The embryos are cryopreserved in labs in Berlin, Germany and Cremona, Italy.[33] The BioRescue team plans to implant northern white rhino embryos in two southern white rhino surrogates by the end of 2024.

Recently deceased rhinos

Wild population

The northern white rhino formerly ranged over parts of northwestern Uganda, southern South Sudan, the eastern part of Central African Republic, and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[34] Their range possibly extended as far west as Lake Chad, into Chad and Cameroon.[35]

Poachers reduced their population from 500 to 15 in the 1970s and 1980s. From the early 1990s through mid-2003, the population recovered to more than 32 animals.[36] [37] Since mid-2003, poaching has intensified and further reduced the wild population.[36]

Garamba National Park

The last known surviving population of wild northern white rhinos was in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).[38]

In January 2005, the government of the DRC approved a two-part plan for five northern white rhinos to be moved from Garamba National Park to a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya. The second part commits the government and its international partners to increase conservation efforts in Garamba, so the northern white rhinos can be returned when it is safe again.[39] However, the translocation did not occur.

In August 2005, ground and aerial surveys conducted under the direction of African Parks Foundation and the African Rhino Specialist Group (ARSG) had only found four animals, a solitary adult male and a group of one adult male and two adult females.[40] They were the last known wild northern white rhinos, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.[41]

In June 2008, it was reported that the species may have gone extinct in the wild, since there has been no sighting of these four known remaining individuals since 2006, or of their signs since 2007, despite intensive systematic ground and aerial searches in 2008.[42] One carcass has been found.[43] [44] On 28 November 2009, two Russian helicopter pilots reported seeing rhinoceroses in southern Sudan.[45] It was assumed that the three rhinos that were spotted belonged to the northern white rhinoceros subspecies, as black rhinos had not lived in the area for a long time and southern white rhinos never lived in southern Sudan.[46] However, as of August 2011, no other sightings have been reported, and this population is now considered to have probably gone extinct.

Captive population

At the beginning of 2015, the fully captive northern white rhino population consisted of only two animals maintained in two zoological institutions: in the United States (San Diego Zoo Safari Park) and the Czech Republic (Dvůr Králové Zoo). However, both of them died later the same year, and no zoo in the world has any northern white rhinos any longer.

Dvůr Králové Zoo

In 1975, the Dvůr Králové Zoo, located in Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Czech Republic, got six northern white rhinos from Sudan and, in later years, two more from English zoos. One rhino from an English zoo arrived pregnant. The Dvůr Králové Zoo is the only zoo in the world where northern white rhinos birthed offspring, with the last calf being born in 2000; the current world population consists of their shared descendants.[47] [6] [7]

Former residents include:

Dvůr Králové Zoo sent Suni, Sudan and two females, which are still alive, to the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on 19 December 2009[55] in a joint effort by the zoo, Fauna and Flora International, Back to Africa, Lewa, and Kenya Wildlife Service. Hoping to stimulate the rhinos' sexual appetite, the zoo decided to send them back into their natural habitat in Kenya. The agreement with the Kenyan government expects the rhinos never to be returned to the Czech Republic.

The female named Nabire stayed in Dvůr Králové Zoo, because, as Jan Stejskal, a projects coordinator at the zoo, stated, "she is no longer capable of breeding naturally. But it seems she has one healthy ovary and this could provide us with material from which to create an embryo in artificial conditions." Efforts to do so began in autumn 2014.[56] Immediately after the death of Nabire in 2015, her ovary with four oocytes was removed and transferred to a laboratory in Cremona, Italy. The laboratory was able to extract two egg cells and fertilise them. However, without consulting the Dvůr Králové Zoo, the semen of a southern white rhino was used instead of a northern white rhino, which the zoo considers a wasted opportunity.[57] Nevertheless, the experiment showed that viable hybrid embryos of the northern and southern white rhino are possible through IVF, as well as a path to the creation of pure northern white rhino embryos.[58] [59]

San Diego Zoo Safari Park

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park in San Diego, California, had eight wild-caught northern white rhinos.[60] [7]

Former residents include:

The San Diego Wild Animal Park provided Angalifu's semen to female rhinos at the Dvůr Králové Zoo but the insemination attempts were unsuccessful. The only reproductive animals of this subspecies were transported to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

In 2016, it was reported that scientists were exploring alternatives (such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer) to develop northern white rhino embryos and implant them in female southern white rhinos at the San Diego Zoo.[65]

List of known captive northern white rhinoceros

List of known northern white rhinoceros in captivity (updated 2011)[66] [67] !Stud #!Sex!Name!Date of birth!Place of birth!Date of death!Place of death
15MPaul1948-08-07Sudan1968-04-13Antwerp Zoo
16FChloe1948-06-07Sudan1985-08-07Antwerp Zoo
19MBen1950-07-25Uganda1990-06-25Dvůr Králové Zoo
27MBill1954-03-04Sudan1975-05-02San Diego Zoo Safari Park
28FLucy1954-03-04Sudan1979-03-15San Diego Zoo Safari Park
54M[n/a]1963-04-01Sudan1985-12-31Riyadh National Zoo
55F[n/a]1963-04-01Sudan1985-12-31Riyadh National Zoo
74MDinka1952-07-28South Sudan1991-01-28San Diego Zoo Safari Park
75FJoyce1953-01-28South Sudan1974-08-15San Diego Zoo Safari Park
290FBebe1950-07-01Uganda1964-05-29Zoological Society of London
345FTofacha1970-01-01Sudan1978-09-12Al Ain Zoo
347M[n/a]1968-04-01Sudan1978-01-18Khartoum Zoo
348MAngalifu1972-04-01Sudan2014-12-14San Diego Zoo Safari Park
351FNasima1965-07-01Uganda1992-08-28Dvůr Králové Zoo
372MSudan1973-09-19Sudan2018-03-19Ol Pejeta Conservancy
373MSaut1972-09-19Sudan2006-08-14Dvůr Králové Zoo
374FNola1974-09-19Sudan2015-11-22San Diego Zoo Safari Park
375FNuri1973-09-19Sudan1982-01-04Dvůr Králové Zoo
376FNadi1972-09-19Sudan2007-05-30San Diego Zoo Safari Park
377FNesari1972-09-19Sudan2011-05-26Dvůr Králové Zoo
476FNasi1977-11-11Dvůr Králové Zoo2007-07-20Dvůr Králové Zoo
630MSuni1980-06-08Dvůr Králové Zoo2014-10-18Ol Pejeta Conservancy
789FNabire1983-11-15Dvůr Králové Zoo2015-07-27Dvůr Králové Zoo
943FNajin1989-07-11Dvůr Králové Zoo
1122F[n/a]1991-07-18Dvůr Králové Zoo1991-07-18Dvůr Králové Zoo
1123F[n/a]1963-04-01Sudan1967-08-02Khartoum Zoo
1252?[n/a]1948-11-17Sudan1949-01-29Khartoum Zoo
1305FFatu2000-06-29Dvůr Králové Zoo

Population chart

Northern White Rhino Population by Location and Year, 1909–2019!Location!1909[68] !1960*!1975*!1984!1995!1996!1998!2000!2003!2006!2007!2008!2009!2011!2014!2015!2017!2018!2019
Wild2,000–3,000*2,000*500*15352926–3130–36304n/a00000000
Central African Republicn/an/an/a0000000000000000
Dem. Republic of Congon/an/an/a15352926–3130–36304n/a00000000
South Sudann/an/an/a0000000000000000
Ugandan/an/an/a0000000000000000
Captivityn/a7151611101011111088[69] 87[70] 533[71] 2[72] 2[73]
Dvůr Králové Zoo,
Czech Republic
n/a069667887662110000
Khartoum Zoo, Sudann/a021000000000000000
Ol Pejeta
Conservancy, Kenya
n/a000000000004433322
San Diego Zoo, USAn/a021543333222210000
Other zoo facultiesn/a755000000000000000
Total2,000–3,000*2,000*500*31463936–4141–474114888753322
*estimate

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Clare Spencer . Northern white rhinos: The audacious plan that could save a species . BBC News . 13 April 2020 . 2020-08-13.
  2. Emslie, R. . 2020 . Ceratotherium simum ssp. cottoni . 2020 . e.T4183A45813838 . 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T4183A45813838.en . 12 November 2021.
  3. Groves . C.P. . Fernando . P. . Robovský . J. . 2010 . The sixth rhino: A taxonomic re-assessment of the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros . PLOS ONE . 5 . 20383328 . 4 . 2850923 . e9703 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0009703 . 2010PLoSO...5.9703G. free .
  4. Harley . Eric H. . de Waal . Margaretha . Murray . Shane . O'Ryan . Colleen . Comparison of whole mitochondrial genome sequences of northern and southern white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum): the conservation consequences of species definitions . Conservation Genetics . December 2016 . 17 . 6 . 1285–1291 . 10.1007/s10592-016-0861-2 . 2016ConG...17.1285H .
  5. News: Last Chance to Survive – Northern White Rhino Conservation Project. 7 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141024083005/http://www.zoodvurkralove.cz/content/image.php?uid=528e2c5e8e7fd. 24 October 2014.
  6. http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/121/1216651198.pdf Breeding Experience With Northern White Rhinos At Zoo Dvur Kralove
  7. Holečková . Dana . Tomášová . Kristina . cs . Narodí se ve Dvoře Králové nejvzácnější mládě roku 2000? . Expecting the Rarest Offspring of the Year 2000 . amp . 184. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  8. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/wildlife_conservation/northern-white-rhinos Northern White Rhinos
  9. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/node/217 Northern White Rhinos Arrive on Ol Pejeta
  10. Gap, Frontier. (27 October 2014) The Death Of Suni, A Rhino Conservation Icon. Thedodo.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  11. http://www.novinky.cz/zahranicni/svet/351215-vzacny-nosorozec-suni-sesel-starim.html Vzácný nosorožec Suni sešel stářím –
  12. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-rhino/worlds-last-male-northern-white-rhino-dead-kenyan-conservancy-idUSKBN1GW0IT "Last male northern white rhino dead"
  13. News: Ellis-Petersen . Hannah . Last male northern white rhino is put down . The Guardian . 20 March 2018 . 20 March 2018.
  14. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/node/223 Northern White Rhinos Progress
  15. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/27/ol-pejeta-kenya-sudan-worlds-last-male-northern-white-rhinoceros At home with the world's last male northern white rhinoceros | Environment
  16. Web site: Houreld . Katharine . Horny male seeks mate: Kenya's last northern white rhino joins Tinder . af.reuters.com . 26 April 2017 . 25 April 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170425190123/http://af.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idAFKBN17R1UX .
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20111120175830/http://www.northernwhiterhinolastchance.com/ "Last Chance to Save the Northern White Rhino" (2014) Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
  18. "Return of the Rhino". BBC, 2010, first aired on 31 October 2010, on BBC2 (UK).
  19. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/about/news/hope-northern-white-rhinos-suni-and-najin-mate-twice Hope for the northern white rhinos Suni and Najin mate; Twice!
  20. http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/africa/meeting-northern-white-rhinos Meeting the Northern white rhinos – Al Jazeera Blogs
  21. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/about/news/day-life-northern-white-rhino "A Day in the Life of a Northern White Rhino"
  22. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/about/news/plan-b-for-breeding "Ol Pejeta's Northern White Rhinos to Embark on Plan B" (7 January 2014)
  23. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/about/news/male-southern-white-rhino-introduced-endangered-species-boma "Male Southern White Rhino Introduced in Endangered Species Boma"
  24. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/and-then-there-were-three/ And then there were three...
  25. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/wildlife/rhinos/northern-white-rhinos/ Northern white rhinos
  26. Web site: Je velmi pravděpodobné, že se Sudánovi narodí potomek. Uchováme jeho kostru i kůži, říká ředitel zoo - Aktuálně.cz . 20 March 2018.
  27. Web site: Reproduction, stem cell researchers set up a rescue plan for Northern White Rhino. 22 December 2015. Science Daily.
  28. Web site: One step closer to saving northern white rhino from extinction. Efe.com.
  29. Web site: 'Amazing': New embryo made of nearly extinct rhino species . Anna . Cara . 15 January 2020 . . 30 January 2020.
  30. Web site: There are 2 northern white rhinos left worldwide. Scientists have created embryos to save the animal. Faith Karimi and Bethlehem Feleke. . 12 September 2019 . 12 September 2019.
  31. Web site: Happy end to a challenging year: Two new northern white rhino embryos created at Christmas – now there are five Biorescue. 2021-07-27. Biorescue.org.
  32. News: Almond . Kyle . 27 January 2024 . Just two northern white rhinos are left on Earth. A new breakthrough offers hope . 26 February 2024 . CNN.
  33. Kluger . Jeremy . 25 January 2024 . An Inside Look at the Embryo Transplant That May Help Save the Northern White Rhino . 26 February 2024 . TIME.
  34. Sydney, J. . 1965. The past and present distribution of some African ungulates. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London . 3. 1–397. 10.1017/S0030605300006815 . free.
  35. Web site: The Rhinos of the Central African Republic. C.A. Spinage. Rhinoresourcecenter.com. 2022-03-24.
  36. International Rhino Foundation. 2002. Rhino Information – Northern White Rhino. 19 September 2006
  37. Smith, Kes Hillman . Status of northern white rhinos and elephants in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the wars. Pachyderm Journal of the African Elephant, African Rhino and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups. July–December 2001. 31. 79–81.
  38. Web site: White rhino - Mammals of Papua. https://archive.today/20141207163226/http://mammals-of-papua.webs.com/whiterhino.htm. 7 December 2014. 7 December 2014.
  39. IUCN. (25 January 2005). Reprieve planned for Garamba's rhinos: extra efforts promised to safeguard their homeland. Gland, Switzerland.
  40. IUCN. (6 July 2006). West African black rhino feared extinct. Gland, Switzerland.
  41. Web site: Northern White Rhino. https://web.archive.org/web/20110605114753/http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/northernwhiterhinoceros/northernwhiterhinoceros.html. 5 June 2011. Worldwildlife.org. 7 April 2009.
  42. News: News | Poachers kill last four wild northern white rhinos . https://web.archive.org/web/20110629113419/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4152951.ece . 29 June 2011 . The Times . London . 17 June 2008. 7 April 2009 . Lewis . Smith.
  43. Smith, Lewis (17 June 2008) Poachers kill last four wild northern white rhinos. The Times.
  44. Skinner, J.D. and Smithers, R.H.N. (1990). The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion, Cambridge University Press, p. 567, .
  45. http://www.backtoafrica.co.za/operations/northern-white-rhino-project.html An alternative approach to species conservation
  46. http://www.novinky.cz/koktejl/188173-v-sudanu-objevili-temer-vyhynule-bile-nosorozce.html V Súdánu objevili téměř vyhynulé bílé nosorožce
  47. http://www.novinky.cz/domaci/360494-kralovedvorska-zoo-spousti-unikatni-projekt-na-zachranu-vzacnych-nosorozcu.html Královédvorská zoo spouští unikátní projekt na záchranu vzácných nosorožců –
  48. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/can-science-save-northern-white-rhino-sudan-najin-fatu/ Northern white rhinos
  49. http://www.cnn.com/EARTH/9603/white_rhino/ Breeding rhinos: Not an easy chore
  50. http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/images/Dvur-0373_i1224678742.php The Rhino Resource Center – Rhino Images
  51. News: Johnston. Raymond. White rhino dies in Czech zoo, seven left worldwide. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144646/http://www.ceskapozice.cz/en/news/society/white-rhino-dies-czech-zoo-seven-left-worldwide. 13 April 2014. Czech Position. 2 June 2011.
  52. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0009703 The Sixth Rhino: A Taxonomic Re-Assessment of the Critically Endangered Northern White Rhinoceros
  53. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/28/rare-rhino-dies-at-czech-zoo-leaving-just-four-northern-white-rhino-on-earth Rare rhino dies at Czech zoo, leaving just four northern white rhino on Earth
  54. News: Torchia. Christopher. Health of world's last male northern white rhino in decline. ABC News. 1 March 2018.
  55. http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/node/215 Four of the World's Last Known Eight Northern White Rhinos Come Home to Africa
  56. Web site: Zoo se snaží rozmnožit nosorožce, samici Nabiré zavěsili na jeřáb. cs. Mladá fronta DNES. 8 October 2014. 19 October 2014.
  57. Tůmová, Štěpánka (4 August 2015) V Itálii oplodnili vajíčka uhynulé nosorožčí samice, ale špatným semenem – iDNES.cz. Hradec.idnes.cz. Retrieved on 24 November 2015.
  58. News: IVF may bring northern white rhinos back from the brink of extinction. The Economist. 5 July 2018.
  59. Web site: Pro záchranu nosorožců mají vědci dostatek genetických zdrojů - Novinky.cz. Novinky.cz. 7 November 2018 .
  60. Eastman, Q. (2007) Northern white rhinos in danger. North County Times (11 June 2007) via Web Archive.
  61. https://web.archive.org/web/20120104135117/http://olpejetaconservancy.org/sites/default/files/NWR_FAQ_FINAL.pdf Last Chance to Survive: Northern White Rhino Conservation Project. Frequently Asked Questions. Northern white rhino
  62. http://www2.rozhlas.cz/mlade/portal/vt000411b.htm Severní bílí nosorožci v zajetí
  63. Kohoutová, Kateřina (13 May 2015) Samice nosorožce bílého Nola je nemocná. Patří k posledním zvířatům svého druhu | Příroda. Rozhlas.cz. Retrieved on 24 November 2015.
  64. Web site: Nola, a northern white rhino at San Diego Zoo's Safari Park, has died. Los Angeles Times. 22 November 2015. 22 November 2015.
  65. News: Morrow. Chris. Bringing Northern White Rhinos Back From Brink of Extinction. 24 February 2016. Huffington Post. 5 February 2016.
  66. International studbook for the African white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum (Burchell, 1817), 01.01.2001 Ninth edition . Dr Andreas Ochs . Rhino Resource Center . 2018-03-31 . en-US.
  67. International studbook for the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum (Burchell 1817), vol. 12 (status 31.12.2011) . Joe Christman. Rhino Resource Center . 2018-03-31 . en-US . 289–291.
  68. Web site: The White Rhinoceros. diglib1.amnh.org. 2 September 2015.
  69. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/dec/20/white-rhinos-kenya Final hope: four white rhinos shipped to Kenya
  70. News: Johnston. Raymond. White rhino dies in Czech zoo, seven left worldwide. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144646/http://www.ceskapozice.cz/en/news/society/white-rhino-dies-czech-zoo-seven-left-worldwide. 13 April 2014. Czech Position. 11 September 2017.
  71. Web site: With 1 male left worldwide, northern white rhinos under guard 24 hours. CNN . 16 April 2015. 11 September 2017.
  72. News: Njehia . Jackson . Sudan, the last male northern white rhino has passed . Reuters . 20 March 2018 . 20 March 2018.
  73. Faith Karimi; Bethlehem Feleke (12 September 2019) There are 2 northern white rhinos left worldwide. Scientists created embryos to save the animal from extinction CNN