The World’s Last Male Northern White Rhino Is Dying, Sparking Fears of Species Extinction

A 3-week-old female white rhinoceros with her mother Tanda, 21, at the Ramat Gan Safari, an open-air zoo near Tel Aviv, on Sept. 3, 2014. This species, while threatened, is distinct from the northern white rhino, the subject of the story. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

The last male northern white rhino on the planet is on death watch due to an illness, sparking fears the breed is nearing extinction.

“It’s only a matter of days,” Elodie Sampere, communications manager for Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy, told Fox News in an exclusive interview. “He’s ailing.”