A rare northern white rhino, one of only six left in the world, died Sunday at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
The Los Angeles Times reported that park officials said the the 44-year-old male rhino named Angalifu, had stopped eating recently and passed away from old age.
"Angalifu's death is a tremendous loss to all of us," said Rancy Reiches, curator of mammals at the Safari Park.
The species are critically endangered as a result of poaching in Africa. The animals are killed for their horns, which are sold and used as dagger handles. Some believe that the horns have aphrodisiac and medicinal properties as well.
In the past, the zoo attempted to breed Angalifu with a female white rhino, but those attempts were unsuccessful likely because the rhinos were of an advanced age and unable to mate. The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has saved some of his semen though in case it can one day be used with the one of the remaining northern white rhinos.
Angalifu was born in the wild and brought to San Diego from Sudan. At his home where he lived until his death, he roamed on a habitat made to look like the African savanna.
image by Helene Hoffman shared via Twitter by the San Diego Zoo Safari Park