Repost from @olpejeta. We are so grateful to our friends @earthpix for sharing a post on the plight of the northern white rhinos. Extinction needs to be highlighted as much as possible for people to realise that we are at a turning point in the survival of our 🌎 planet 🌍. In just 50 years, humanity has wiped out 68% of global wildlife populations and many species, such as the northern white rhinos, are in real trouble. ⚠️ However, we wish to clarify a few things ⚠️: 🦏 Northern white rhinos were declared FUNCTIONALLY extinct in 2018 (not yesterday!), when the last male in existence died. His name was Sudan and he died of old age. 🦏 FUNCTIONALLY extinct means that the number of animals is so small that they no longer play a significant role in ecosystem function; or that the population is no longer viable. 🦏 Sudan was NOT the last northern white rhino alive. He left behind his daughter Najin and her daughter Fatu, both who are still very much alive today. Najin is 31 years old, and Fatu turns 21 this month. They both live on Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya and we are happy to report that they are in good health and are enjoying green grass and carrots on a daily basis. 🦏 There is an incredible group of scientists and conservationists who have been working on assisted methods of reproduction (IVF) to revive the species. As of today, there are nine pure northern white rhino embryos that have been created. We are hopeful that one, or more, or these embryos will become a northern white rhino baby. You can learn more about these efforts and about the northern white rhinos by following @biorescue_project @olpejeta @amivitale @kenyawildlifeservice and we would be extremely grateful if our followers could share this post to help educate others who may not know about our incredible project. ⚠️ @olpejeta will be going live this week with the two incredible northern white rhinos and some of their experts to talk about this project. ⚠️ You are also able to support @olpejeta’s work and the project via the ⛓link in @olpejeta’s bio. 📸 @riothephotographer #northernwhiterhino #olpejeta #wildlifefacts #fightingextinction #biorescueproject #thelastword (at Ol Pejeta Conservancy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPvsg8OhX6d/?utm_medium=tumblr
