#117 - Only Two Remain

Ol Pejeta, Kenya - 2024
 
This is Fatu, one of only two northern white rhinos left on Earth. Both she and Najin are female, the last ambassadors of a lineage that once roamed freely across central Africa. Standing before Fatu, I felt the full weight of what human greed has taken from the natural world. This is not extinction through evolution but through exploitation, a truth that gives even greater meaning to my work in fine art wildlife photography, where every image becomes part of a visual record of what we still have to protect.

See my image of Najin here >>
 
In 2009, Fatu, Najin, Sudan, and Suni were moved from a zoo in the Czech Republic to the grasslands of Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The hope was that a return to their natural environment might inspire them to breed, but that hope faded over time. Sudan and Suni are now gone, leaving only these two females behind, living within a 700-acre enclosure under constant protection. They are watched day and night by armed guards, a living reminder of how fragile the balance between survival and loss has become.
 
Yet even now, a faint glimmer of hope remains. Scientists are working tirelessly to save the subspecies through advanced reproductive technology, using Fatu’s eggs and preserved sperm from deceased males. It is a complex and uncertain process, but perhaps one day, northern white rhinos will walk the African plains again.
 
Photographing Fatu in this moment was both humbling and heartbreaking. Through this image and my limited edition wildlife print collection, I hope to keep her story alive. This piece also forms an important part of my African wildlife prints, reminding us what is truly at stake. For collectors of wildlife wall art, Fatu’s image stands as both beauty and warning, a testament to the resilience that still endures in the wild.