Sudan, a 45 year old northern white rhino had been sick due to his old age and was being treated for many infections in the past few days. But he was euthanized according to the decision of a veterinary team who treated him because his condition had only gotten worse. Now only two females of the subspecies remain in the world.

Sudan was kept in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya and was heavily guarded in his last days so nobody would dare try poach him. According to Elodie Sampere, who is a representative of Ol Pejeta, they did manage to save some of his genetic material which could hopefully be used to artificially inseminate one of the females left and save the species from going extinct. He said, “He was a gentle giant, his personality was just amazing and given his size, a lot of people were afraid of him. But there was nothing mean about him.”

It is with great sadness that Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Dvůr Králové Zoo announce that Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino, age 45, died at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on March 19th, 2018 (yesterday). #SudanForever #TheLoneBachelorGone #Only2Left pic.twitter.com/1ncvmjZTy1

— Ol Pejeta (@OlPejeta) March 20, 2018

The western black rhino had already been declared extinct seven years ago because they died out due to the excessive poaching done to collect rhino horns which some people in Asia believe can cure diseases. There are five remaining species of rhinos in the world and all are considered endangered as reported by Save the Rhino, a conservation group.

Peter Knights, who is the CEO of WildAid, said “We can only hope that the world learns from the sad loss of Sudan and takes every measure to end all trade in rhino horn. While prices of rhino horn are falling in China and Vietnam, poaching for horn still threatens all rhino species.”