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26 Apr, 2017 08:43

Horny beast joins Tinder to raise awareness for ailing white rhino population

Horny beast joins Tinder to raise awareness for ailing white rhino population

Wildlife conservationists are asking love seekers to swipe right on a very horny suitor – an endangered white rhino called ‘Sudan’ – after he joined dating app Tinder to raise awareness for his dying species.

Poaching has left the northern white rhinoceros, one of the largest land mammals on the planet, on the brink, and Sudan is now the only male of his kind in the world. 

The 43-year-old Sudan admittedly already lives with two female rhinos in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. However, natural breeding has become a problem due to “issues including age,” according to Sudan’s conservation team.

READ MORE: French zoo killing: Poachers shoot 4yo rhino, cut horn with chainsaw in brazen attack outside Paris

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is hopeful the animal’s “pretty impressive profile” will persuade people to dip into their pockets and donate.

“Not only is he a pretty fine specimen of a rhino, but he has his own personal team of armed bodyguards, and has appeared in a string of international documentaries and new stories,” a statement released by the wildlife team reads.

The animal’s Tinder profile states how he is the “last male white rhino on planet earth.”

“I don’t mean to be too forward, but the fate of my species literally depends on us getting together. I like to eat grass and chill in the mud. No problems performing under pressure. 6ft tall and 5,000lbs if it matters,” it adds.

While Sudan might sound like a player, the bachelor’s stint on Tinder is an effort to raise $9 million to help research in assisted reproductive techniques before it’s too late for some species.

It could see the world’s white rhino population boosted by in vitro fertilization.

“The plight that currently faces the northern white rhinos is a signal to the impact that humankind is having on many thousands of other species across the planet,” said Richard Vigne, CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy. “Ultimately, the aim will be to reintroduce a viable population of northern white rhino back into the wild which is where their true value will be realized.”

READ MORE: Angry rhino charges at conservationists seconds after release into wild (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

“We are in a race. A race against the extinction of the northern white rhino species. We urgently need to raise awareness and funds for Sudan. No one could run this campaign better than Tinder. It will offer the ‘most eligible bachelor’ global exposure in such a meaningful way,” added Ogilvy Africa spokesperson Mathieu Plassard.

The introduction of Sudan into the ‘wild’ world of dating might be for valiant conservation interests, but the move has bemused and amused some online, including one Twitter user who bizarrely questioned whether Tinder was trying to get him to mate with a rhino.

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