The LAST MALE Northern White Rhino’s viral photo is a red flag for EXTINCTION

A biologist, Daniel Schneider, took to Twitter to share the picture of the last male Northern White Rhino, and the photograph has gone viral.

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This is the picture of the last male Northern White Rhino ‘Sudan’. (Source: @BiologistDan/Twitter)

Global warming, poaching and industrialisation have depleted the rich natural resources from Earth. Not only are the natural habitats disappearing, but a lot of wild species are endangered. In yet another heart-wrenching incident, a photo of the ‘last’ male Northern White Rhino has surfaced on social media. A biologist, Daniel Schneider, took to Twitter to share the picture of solemn male rhino ‘Sudan’ silently sitting – with its head on its legs and muzzle on the ground. The mammal resides in a reserve in Kenya called the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, with two other female Northern White Rhinos. The 44-year-old rhino’s photograph went viral with more than 44,000 retweets and 46,000 likes, at the time of writing. “Want to know what extinction looks like? This is the last male Northern White Rhino. The Last. Nevermore,” he captioned it.

Poached for ivory horns, they are last of their species and Sudan has a low sperm count due to which it cannot reproduce with the female rhinos. According to a report in the Telegraph, a British zoo had announced that they will be trying IVF technology to save the white rhino species from extinction in July. However, the breeding attempts between Sudan and the two surviving female species proved unsuccessful.

Take a look at the picture of the last male rhino here.

Want to know what extinction looks like? This is the last male Northern White Rhino. The Last. Nevermore pic.twitter.com/o4obIQUpaR

— Daniel Schneider (@BiologistDan) November 6, 2017

No sooner did he tweet it, the micro-blogging site was filled with melancholic reactions and people started sharing more information about the species. While one user said, “Apparently there are 2 females but he is quite old and artificial insemination has failed. However, they keep trying. So sad,” another one commented, “The population, the gene pool, is too small anyway. There’s a bottleneck, a population level at which the diversity within the gene pool is too small to make an ongoing population viable. Two individuals cannot save a species.” Meanwhile, there were a few users who were still not perturbed about the tragic scenario.

Check out some reactions here.

Please say there is a breeding program:'(

— linda bertinelli (@linda_lindylou) November 6, 2017

Apparently there are 2 females but he is quite old and artificial insemination has failed. However, they keep trying. So sad.

— B-A (@eberylann) November 6, 2017

The population, the gene pool, is too small anyway. There’s a bottleneck, a population level at which the diversity within the gene pool is too small to make an ongoing population viable. Two individuals cannot save a species.

— Lady Barber Brown (@LadyBarberBrown) November 7, 2017

Ya. It’s just plain old science. 🤔

— Lady Barber Brown (@LadyBarberBrown) November 8, 2017

Extinction is part of nature.

— brian butler (@rapdog147) November 7, 2017

Not when they are hunted to extinction

— Justin Minns (@justin_minns) November 7, 2017

Since when are humans not a part of nature? Aren’t we all just another species of ape?

— brian butler (@rapdog147) November 7, 2017

Just to be clear, this is what you are defending as a part of nature. (image ©Brent Stirton) pic.twitter.com/GlDh1FThiq

— Justin Minns (@justin_minns) November 7, 2017

Many dont stop 2 realize tht as more species go extinct, the interdependence of species on this Earth is affected & humans’ demise is coming

— Stevie Marie (@1StevieMarie) November 6, 2017

In today’s world, what good is a Rhino?

— Hugh Campbell (@HughScot) November 7, 2017

In today’s world, what good are you? Guarantee rhinos live more in harmony with their ecosystem than you do.

— Paul Savage (@comedysavage) November 7, 2017

Sorry…. Yet these stories kill us little by little. If we turn a blind eye to protect our hearts, then who will bear witness and urge help

— Kate Johnson (@KateatHome) November 8, 2017

So true. Critical that others are educated especially where their actions do have impact such as buying a fur collar or swim with dolphin

— Kate Johnson (@KateatHome) November 8, 2017

What are your thoughts? Share it in the comments below.