At 45, Sudan was older than the average Tinder user, but that didn’t stop hundreds of people from swiping right to check him out. Sudan wasn’t looking for a match, exactly. It was way too late for that. His caretakers at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya thought a Tinder profile would help draw attention to his species, the critically endangered northern white rhinoceros.
“I don’t mean to be too forward, but the fate of my species literally depends on me,” his profile said.
The plea was a bit of hyperbole, but there was truth in it. Users who swiped right were taken to a page where they could learn more about Sudan and donate to a campaign to save his species. He was the last male standing, the final specimen of the iconic, 2.5-ton behemoths that once roamed throughout central Africa in large numbers. Poachers had hunted the northern white rhino nearly to extinction. The only animals left were in zoos and animal conservancies in Europe and Africa.
But ultimately, the Tinder profile was not enough. Sudan, who suffered from a host of age-related illnesses, died on March 19, 2018. He was survived by his daughter, Najin, and granddaughter, Fatu, who lived nearby. They are the last of his species; his genetic line lives on only as long as they do. Yet Sudan’s descendants are too frail to maintain a pregnancy.
But hope may not be lost for the northern white rhinoceros. Cutting-edge reproductive technology — the type that has enabled thousands of families to conceive children — is being applied to endangered species like Sudan’s family. The future of the species now rests entirely on the most advanced reproductive technologies science has to offer: in vitro fertilization, surrogacy and stem cell development. If scientists are successful, the next generation of northern whites will begin their development in petri dishes, where they will grow for two weeks before finally being implanted in surrogate mothers.
