In this post we’re sharing the words of Ms. Celine Cousteau to raise awareness for this important new short film, which is a story of heartbreaking sadness and hope for the northern White Rhino.
“March 19, 2023, marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Sudan, the last known male northern white rhino on the planet. Here, JoJo Wachira gives his last goodbye to Sudan before he dies at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in northern Kenya.
In the words of photographer Ami Vitale – It was silent, except for the rain falling, a single bird scolding, and the muffled sorrow of Sudan’s caretakers. The silence seemed to foreshadow what a world without wildlife would be like.
With Sudan’s death, the northern white rhino is functionally extinct, but remarkably, all hope is not lost. Thanks to an international consortium of scientists known as the Bio Rescue Project, there are now 24 northern white rhino embryos that are ready to be transferred into surrogate southern white rhino females in the near future. This will have profound implications for the other species of rhino that are also critically endangered—as well as the more than 42,000 animals threatened with extinction on Earth today.
What happens next is in all of our hands. Our fate is linked to the fate of animals. Without rhinos and other wildlife we suffer more than loss of ecosystem health. We suffer a loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss of beautiful possibilities.
Ami Vitale has just launched the new short film “Remembering Sudan,” documenting the heartbreaking crisis facing the northern white rhinos, the incredible efforts to save them.
All ticket sales go to supporting OlPejeta, which cares for Najin and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos on the planet.”
Official Website for the Remembering Sudan film is rememberingsudan.org
Photo by Ms. Ami Vitale
