He’s over six feet tall, 5,000 pounds, and his favorite activities include eating grass and taking mud baths. He’s old, about 95 in human terms, but that craggy grin is irresistible. There’s only one catch, the fate of his species literally depends on him finding a mate. Would you swipe right?
The world’s last northern white rhino is a bachelor named Sudan. He’s currently living under armed guard at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy with the last two females of his species, 17-year-old Satu and 27-year-old Najin. Poaching has driven his species to near extinction, and the clock is running out to save them. So far, the threesome has been unable to produce a natural pregnancy, and conservationists are scrambling for another solution.
In vitro fertilization is a popular fertility procedure with great success with humans and even certain animals. But it’s never been done with rhinos. It’s Sudan’s last chance at becoming a father, but it comes with a big price tag. The cost of saving a species is equaling out to be about $9 million. Sudan and his friends need to raise money fast, so they partnered with the popular dating app, Tinder, to get the word out.
Sudan’s dating profile went live this week, and millions of people in 190 countries speaking 40 different languages are swiping right for what Ol Pejeta calls, “The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World.” After swiping, users are directed to the Ol Pejeta’s donation page. The organization is accepting all help, no matter how small, to save Sudan’s species from extinction. By Tuesday morning, the site had crashed from the influx of visitors.
Sudan’s advanced age and the constant threat of poachers means the money needs to be raised as quickly as possible. Conservationists are worried that Sudan will either die of old age or be killed for sport before they can go through with the fertilization treatment. The plan is to use Sudan’s sperm to fertilize an egg from one of the two remaining females. The embryo will then be implanted into the womb of a southern white rhino that will serve as surrogate. Southern white rhinos are much more common, and with only two northern females remaining, the risk of childbirth is too great for either Satu or Najin.
The ultimate goal is to produce a healthy rhino calf, and eventually reintroduce the species into the wild. Sudan and his female friends currently live in a “semi-wild” environment due to nearby poachers. A white rhino horn is more valuable than gold in Far East markets, and the novelty of Sudan being the last of his kind puts him in constant danger.
Sudan has an important job to do, but he’s up for the challenge. He reassures his millions of Tinder admirers by saying, “I perform well under pressure.”
