Natural World: Sudan: The Last of the Rhinos
BBC TWO, 9.00PM; SCOTLAND, 11.15PM
“He’s a Hollywood star… He’s got followers on Facebook and Instagram. He’s got his own hashtag.” Meet Sudan, the last male northern white rhino. Aged 43, he lives at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya’s Laikipia County, where he’s been since 2009, when he was moved from the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic, which had been his home since he was snatched in 1973.
This affecting film tells Sudan’s story, taking in the battle to bring his subspecies, which has been decimated by poachers, back from the brink of extinction. We hear from the man who captured him – “I don’t think I ever felt that I was doing wrong” – as well as a menagerie of zoologists, zookeepers, and IVF scientists working assiduously to create a viable rhino embryo.
Sudan, who lives with the last two remaining females, Najin and Fatu, made the news recently when his conservancy teamed up with the Tinder dating app in an attempt to raise $9million for research into breeding methods. “I’m one of a kind,” his profile read, encouraging people to “swipe right” to donate. “The fate of the species literally depends on me.” Jokes aside, the message struck a powerful chord – much like this documentary. Patrick Smith forcing them to face up to some comfortable truths. PS