Records show that Fausta lived (longer) than any rhino in the world |
By Nuzulack Dausen, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania
A rhino believed to the world’s oldest has died at the age
of 57 in a Tanzanian conservation area, authorities said.
Fausta, a
female black rhino, died of natural causes in captivity on Friday in the
Ngorongoro Crater, the state conservation body said.
“Records
show that Fausta lived (longer) than any rhino in the world and survived in the
Ngorongoro, free-ranging, for more than 54 years before it was kept in a
sanctuary for the last three years of its life in 2016,” the Ngorongoro
Conservation Area Authority said in a statement.
Fausta was
first located in 1965 at between three and four years’ old by a scientist. Her
health deteriorated from 2016 after hyena attacks, when she was taken into
refuge.
"Fausta survived 57 years without bearing calves," the statement added.
Rhinos’ life
expectancy is around 40 years in the wild but they can live an extra decade in
captivity, according to the Ngorongoro authority.
Decimated by
poaching, black rhinos now number around 5,500, according to charity Save The
Rhino. The smaller of the two African species, they are found around south and
east Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
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