Nola was a gentle elderly rhino who liked apples and backrubs from her caretakers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. But when she died this fall, her death spoke to a greater tragedy: With Nola gone, only three northern white rhinos are left in the world—all elderly or otherwise unable to reproduce. The northern white rhino is yet another step closer to extinction.
The Northern White Rhinos Are Almost All Gone
The northern white rhino is yet another step closer to extinction.
In this Dec. 31, 2014, file photo, Nola, a 40-year-old northern white rhino who is only one of five remaining of the species, wanders around her enclosure at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on a cold winter day in Escondido, Calif. Six female southern white rhinos arrived on a chartered MD11 flight from South Africa landed at the San Diego International Airport on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015. San Diego Zoo Global has one of the most successful rhino breeding programs in the world. To date, a total of 94 southern white rhinos, 68 greater one-horned rhinos and 14 black rhinos have been born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)Lenny Ignelzi
