"Nonno Toby" (Grandpa Toby) passed away on Oct 6,
Ms Elisa Livia Pennacchioni of the Parco Natura Viva, a zoo near the northern
city of Verona, told AFP.
"He collapsed on the floor on the way back to his
nighttime shelter, and after about half an hour, his heart stopped," she
said.
Toby will be embalmed and put on display at the MuSe science
museum in Trento, where he will join Blanco, a white lion from the zoo who died
five years ago, Ms Pennacchioni said.
White rhinos normally live up to 40 years when held in
captivity, and up to 30 years in the wild, she said.
Toby's death, which follows the passing of his female
partner Sugar in 2012, leaves the Parco Natura Viva with one remaining white
rhino: Benno, aged 39.
Toby was a southern white rhino - only one of five rhino
species that are not considered endangered, with an estimated population of
around 18,000, according to the WWF.
The northern white rhino, for its part, is a technically extinct
subspecies since the death in 2018 of the last male.
Only two female northern white rhinos remain on Earth,
living under guard in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta reserve.
None are able to carry a pregnancy to term but scientists
are planning to use surrogate mothers in southern white rhinos after
successfully creating twelve northern white rhino embryos with the preserved
gametes of several males, announced. in July BioRescue, a consortium of
scientists and conservationists.
0 comments:
Post a Comment