A heartbreaking photo of the world's last male northern white rhino went viral after showing 'what extinction looks like'

• A photo of the last male northern white rhino in the world has gone viral on Twitter.
• The photo depicts Sudan lying on the ground, alongside the caption: "Want to know what extinction looks like?"
• Sudan is the last male of his species left in the world. He is unable to mate with the two remaining females of his kind.

A photo of the world's last male northern white rhino, tweeted to show "what extinction looks like," has gone viral.

The biologist Daniel Schneider's photo of the rhino, named Sudan, lying on the ground with his eyes downcast has been retweeted more than 40,000 times on Twitter since Monday.

"Want to know what extinction looks like? This is the last male Northern White Rhino," Schneider tweeted. "The Last. Nevermore."

Sudan, who was born in 1973, is the only male northern white rhino left in the world. He lives at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya with two females of his species — both of whom are incapable of natural reproduction, the conservancy's website said.

After the death of two northern white rhinos in the Czech Republic and San Diego in 2015, the trio became the last of their kind in the world.

Conservationists have been trying to find new ways, including in vitro fertilization and stem-cell technology, to preserve the lineage. Northern white rhinos usually live up to 40 years, the World Wide Fund said, meaning Sudan may have already lived past his expected life cycle.

The decline of the northern white rhino, which used to roam central Africa, is due to poaching and various civil wars in the region, Ol Pejeta said. The conservancy has armed security guards watching over the three rhinos at all times.

Sudan found fame earlier this year as conservationists created a Tinder profile for him.

"I don't mean to be too forward, but the fate of my species literally depends on me," his profile on the dating app said. Users who swiped right were directed to a website where they could donate to Ol Pejeta.

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