One of five remaining northern white rhinos dies

One of the last five extant northern white rhinoceroses died in a zoo northeast of Prague, Czech Republic on Monday.

The rhino, named Nabiré, passed away after suffering from complications due to a ruptured cyst, the Dvur Kralove Zoo noted in a post on Facebook.

Zoo director Premysl Rabas said, "Her death is a symbol of the catastrophic decline of rhinos due to a senseless human greed. Her species is on the very brink of extinction."

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the northern white rhinoceros faces total extinction due to a combination of human factors including wars in Africa and the hunting and poaching of the species.

Anticipating the complete loss of the species, scientists at the zoo preserved Nabiré's genetic material with the hope that an embryo could be bred artificially sometime in the future.

The four other northern white rhinos still alive are Nola at the San Diego Zoo and Sudan, Najin and Fatu who live on Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Nabiré was a rarity among the increasingly rare species herself, being one of the few white rhinos born in captivity. She was born in the zoo on November 15, 1983. She was 31-years-old.