World's Last Male Northern White Rhino Dies
The world's last known male northern white rhinoceros has died. Sudan was 45 years old. He was living in Kenya at a wildlife conservancy called Ol Pejeta. The conservancy said his age-related health problems had worsened, and that he was put to sleep on Monday. Sudan was no longer able to stand, workers there said. His muscles and bones had weakened, and his skin had severe wounds. He also had an infection in his leg. Sudan was born in the wild in Sudan. At two years old, he was captured and taken to a zoo in the Czech Republic. He lived there from 1975 until 2009, when he was moved to Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Sudan had been part of the conservancy’s effort to save the northern white rhinos from disappearing. Now, just two females are left. One is his daughter, Najin. The other is his granddaughter, Fatu. Conservationists had tried many times to get Sudan to mate with the two females naturally. However, they were not successful. Last year, they created an account for him on the dating app Tinder, where Sudan was described as “The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World.” The effort was meant to raise funds for a $9-million fertility treatment to help the species survive. Elodie Sampere is a manager at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. She spoke to VOA after Sudan’s death. She said there is still hope of keeping the species from disappearing. “The death of Sudan does not mean the death of the species. We still have two females that are there,” she said. However, both Najin and Fatu are unable to carry a pregnancy to full term. So, scientists hope to use a technique called in-vitro fertilization. They want to combine the genetic material of a female and male northern white rhino. Then, they will implant the resulting embryo in the uterus of a female southern white rhino. Northern white rhinos once lived across parts of Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Congo and the Central African Republic. Fifty years ago, about 2,000 remained in the wild. They became especially threatened because of armed conflicts in the area. Many were also killed by poachers. In some cultures, rhino horns are used in traditional medicine. They can be worth up to $50,000 per kilogram. All international trade in rhino horn is outlawed. However, demand in several Asian countries continues to fuel an illegal black market Sudan, the last male northern white #rhino on our planet, died yesterday at 45 in Kenya, leaving only 2 females of this subspecies left How did we get here?! We must not allow this to happen to other species on our watch Along with health problems, Sudan may have also suffered from loneliness in his final days at the conservancy. The only other male of his species, Suni, died in 2014. Sudan spent his final years surrounded by armed guards who protected him from poachers.
MUDDASIR FARUQUEE
Karnataka Elections: homestretch before LS 2k19
Karnataka was supposed to be the Bharatiya Janata Party’s point of entry into southern India. But after its historic victory in the 2008 Assembly election, the party lost its way in the State, and the Congress staged a comeback five years later. Now, far from expanding to the neighbouring States, the party is struggling to return to power in Karnataka in the face of a determined defensive battle by the politically savvy Congress Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah. A relatively new entrant to the Congress, he has created his own space in the faction-ridden party and in the wider public sphere by traversing caste divides and resisting communal polarisation. Thus, the single-phase election on May 12 could witness a face-off between the BJP and the Congress, with the Janata Dal (Secular) a distant third. The BJP’s challenge is mounted by the old warhorse B.S. Yeddyurappa, its most valuable asset and arguably also its greatest liability. If he won it for the BJP in 2008, he also ensured a defeat in 2013. After he resigned as Chief Minister following allegations of involvement in illegal mining and land deals, Mr. Yeddyurappa tried to run the government through handpicked men. When there was resistance to his meddling from the outside, he formed his own party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha, to down the BJP in 2013, but returned in time to help the BJP perform creditably in the 2014 election. In the absence of other evidence, it must have seemed to the BJP’s national leadership that it could win only with the active assistance of Mr. Yeddyurappa. Mr. Siddaramaiah has used divisive tactics of his own. His government aided demands for religious minority status for Lingayats, a Shaivite section from which Mr. Yeddyurappa, and by extension the BJP, draw substantial support. And he indulged regional sentiments by unveiling a Karnataka State flag. Both decisions are awaiting the approval of the Centre, but the Congress believes that irrespective of what the BJP-led government at the Centre does, the dividends are for it to reap. Agitations against the use of Hindi in Metro stations are also being turned to the disadvantage of the BJP, which is trying to refurbish its image as a Hindu-Hindi party by stressing solely on the Hindu aspect. Karnataka will not be the last State to go to the polls before the Lok Sabha election of 2019, but it holds great importance for the campaigns of the Congress and the BJP in the run-up to 2019. A loss for either will be a dampener, and a win a great morale booster. Leaders of both parties need to convince themselves, more than anyone else, that they have their nose ahead as they near the homestretch