Joseph Wachira comforts Sudan, a northern white rhino
Photographer: Ami Vitale
Date: 2015
Location: Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya
Ami Vitale photographed Joseph Wachira, a wildlife conservationist and keeper at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, comforting Sudan — the last male northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) on Earth — in one of Sudan's final years. Sudan died on March 19, 2018, at the age of approximately 45, leaving only two surviving northern white rhinos: his daughter Najin and granddaughter Fatu, both female, making natural reproduction of the subspecies impossible. The photograph, which shows Wachira pressing his forehead gently against Sudan's, became a global symbol of the extinction crisis and the intimate bonds between conservationists and the animals they protect. Scientists are attempting to save the subspecies through assisted reproduction using frozen genetic material combined with southern white rhino surrogate mothers.
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