SUDAN, A 42-YEAR-OLD male northern white rhino is under 24-hour armed protection at a Kenyan reserve to prevent him from being attacked by poachers. He is the only male left of his species.

To make him less appealing to poachers, Sudan’s horn was cut off, but it will eventually grow back.

He is taken care of at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya with two female companions: Fatu and Najin. They are 3 of the last 5 white northern rhino left on this planet.

“The rhino-poaching death toll hit a record high in 2014 with over 1,000 rhino being slaughtered. The figure has more than tripled in the last four years. People are calling it a war. And all for a horn that has no medicinal qualities whatsoever; studies in Switzerland, the UK, and China have all confirmed it”, explains Matador Network author Jo Jackson.

A crowdfunding campaign has already raised more than $78,000 to help protect the rhino rangers, also at great risk of being attacked while keeping Sudan safe.

Scientists are now working towards mating Sudan with one of the other females at Ol Pejeta to preserve the endangered species.