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Swipe right to save the world’s last white rhino

Sudan the rhino is ready to find love, but he needs your help
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Swipe right, and help save an endangered species.

The dating app Tinder and the OI Pejeta Conservancy are putting the spotlight on the world’s most eligible bachelor – a 43-year-old northern white rhino named Sudan who lives in Kenya – in your virtual card stack, in hopes you can take a break from the dating world for one last effort to save the species.

Sudan is the last male rhino of his kind and currently in the conservancy’s protected captivity.

He likes eating grass and chilling in the mud, and is surrounded by an armed bodyguard 24/7. But because of his old age, he’s been unable to reproduce with his female counterparts, Najin and Fatu.

Conservancy officials aim to raise $9 million through the social media campaign that launched Tuesday.

The money will be used to fund ongoing research and in-vitro fertilization testing in hopes that scientists can use this method to successfully impregnate Najin and Fatu.

“This represents the last option to save the species after all previous breeding attempts proved futile,” Richard Vigne, the conservancy group’s CEO, said in a news release.

The research, which is happening in the U.S., Germany and Japan, aims to establish a herd of 10 northern white rhinos after five years using in-vitro fertilization.

How it works

When Tinder users ‘swipe right’ on Sudan’s profile, they will be directed to a page where they can make a donation.


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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