NAIROBI, April 2 — The death of the world's last male northern white rhinoceros this month led a Kenyan government official to declare anyone caught possessing ivory should be sentenced to life in prison.
“Ivory belongs to elephants and rhinos,” said Najib Balala, Kenya's tourism minister, during a memorial service held at Ol Pejeta Conservancy on Saturday for Sudan, the 45-year-old rhino, who died 11 days ago.
Wildlife officials at Ol Pejeta, about 250 kilometres north of Nairobi, put down the rhino on March 19 because of rapid deterioration in his health.
Sudan is survived by the last two females of his species, his 27-year-old daughter Najin and 17-year-old granddaughter Fatu. The only hope for preserving their species is through in vitro fertilisation using their eggs and stored semen, according to Ol Pejeta.
Thousand of southern white rhinos still roam sub-Saharan Africa, but decades of rampant poaching have drastically cut the number of northern whites. Poachers could sell northern white rhino horns for US$50,000 (RM193,000) per kilo, making them more valuable than gold. — Reuters
