Toby, the oldest white rhinoceros in the world, died at the age of 54 in a zoo in northern Italy, has reported an establishment spokesman.
“Nonno Toby” (grandfather Toby) died on October 6, said Elisa Livia Pennacchioni from Parco Natura Viva, a zoo near the northern city of Verona.
“He collapsed on the way back to his nocturnal shelter and, after about half an hour, his heart stopped,” he said.
Toby will be embalmed and exhibited at the Muse Muse Museum of Trent, where he joined white, a white lion of the zoo who died five years ago, said Pennacchioni.
White rhinos normally live up to 40 years when they are in captivity and up to 30 years in nature, assured.
The death of Toby, after the death of his companion Sugar in 2012, leaves Parco Natura Viva with a single white rhinoceros: Benno, 39,.
Toby was a southern white rhinoceros, which after the elephant, is the larger terrestrial mammal, as it can reach up to 2 m high and 4 in length and weigh more than 3,500 kg.
It belongs to one of the five species of rhinoceroses that are not considered in danger of extinction, with an estimated population of around 18,000, according to WWF.
However, only two copies of the subspecies of Northern White Rhinoceros are left in a Kenya Nature Reserve, which are monitored 24 hours by armed guards, the environmental group assured.