Kenyan wildlife agency says saddened by death of rare rhino in U.S.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said Tuesday it is saddened by the death of a northern white rhino, one of just four left on earth, at a U.S. zoo Sunday.

KWS said in a statement that the planet earth is inching closer to extinction of the rare northern white rhinoceros following the death of 41-year-old Nola in San Diego Zoo Safari Park after suffering from a bacterial infection and age-related health issues.

"Nolas's death at the weekend leaves the world with three individuals, all in Kenya at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy," it said."She was wild caught in the Shambe area, which is located in the southern savanna woodlands of Sudan and was rescued from the violent poaching that is prevalent in that region when she was only a few years old."

According to KWS, the rhino's age upon capture has been estimated more closely at being 18 months old. She belonged to the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic, but since 1989 she had been on loan in San Diego.

Representatives of the Safari Park and the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya have held discussions in recent months on how to save the northern white rhino.

Ol Pejeta is home to the only three remaining northern white rhinos on earth, and all of them, unfortunately, have what zoo officials termed "reproductive issues."

KWS said it's closely monitoring the three northern white rhinos and are kept in two groups with four southern white rhinos, which were introduced to stimulate reproduction.

"To keep the northern white rhinos safe and in good health, Ol Pejeta dedicated 24hr armed security, a 700-acre enclosure, and a nutritious diet supplemented with fresh vegetables," the statement said.

The wildlife agency said various matings have been noted over the period they have been at Ol Pejeta, but with no success in conception.

The northern white rhino is currently the world's rarest rhinoceros. The northern white rhino is a sub-species of white rhino, which used to range over parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Years of widespread poaching and civil war in their home range have devastated northern white rhino populations, and they are now considered to be extinct in the wild. Endit