Animal

Toby, the world's oldest white rhino, dies aged 54 in Italian zoo


Toby, the world's oldest white rhino, in its enclosure at the 'Parco Natura Viva' zoo in Bussolengo, near Verona, in northern Italy, on 30 September 2016.


Toby, the world’s oldest white rhino, in its enclosure at the ‘Parco Natura Viva’ zoo in Bussolengo, near Verona, in northern Italy, on 30 September 2016.

Giorgio Cortese/Parco Natura Viva/AFP

Rome – Toby, the world’s oldest white rhino, has died at the age of 54 in a zoo in northern Italy, a spokesperson for the establishment said on Tuesday.

“Nonno Toby” (Grandpa Toby) passed away on 6 October, Elisa Livia Pennacchioni of the Parco Natura Viva, a zoo near the northern city of Verona, told AFP.

She said:

He collapsed on the floor on the way back to his night-time shelter, and after about half an hour, his heart stopped.

Toby will be embalmed and put on display at the Muse science museum in Trento, where he will join Blanco, a white lion from the zoo who died five years ago, Pennacchioni said.

White rhinos normally live up to 40 years when held in captivity, and up to 30 years in the wild, she said.

Toby, the world's oldest white rhino

Toby, the world’s oldest white rhino, in its enclosure at the ‘Parco Natura Viva’ zoo in Bussolengo, near Verona, in northern Italy, on 13 June 2019.

Toby’s death, which follows the passing of his female partner Sugar in 2012, leaves the Parco Natura Viva with one remaining white rhino: Benno, aged 39.

Toby was a southern white rhino – only one of five rhino species that are not considered endangered, with an estimated population of around 18 000, according to the WWF.

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