Farewell Howard: Cause of death of beloved animal is revealed as community mourns

Phoenix, Arizona: Phoenix Zoo has lost one of its most-loved residents. Howard, a Southern White Rhinoceros, has been put down after battling a neurological condition. Phoenix Zoo officials made the announcement on Sunday.

"It is with great sadness we share that after being treated for a protracted and progressive neurological condition that became unresponsive to treatment; the Zoo’s veterinarians and keepers made the difficult decision to euthanize Howard, our Southern white rhinoceros. Preliminary pathology revealed meningitis and sepsis and we are still waiting to receive additional information in the coming weeks with more pathology tests pending," a Facebook post from the zoo said.

The Hoofstock team added, "Howard was an easy-going rhino who always enjoyed interacting with his keepers. He was always happy to spend time near his keepers for as long as he could convince anyone to stand still and scratch him. He will be greatly missed by everyone on the Hoofstock team."

Howard was born at White Oak Conservation Center in Florida in 1997 and arrived in Phoenix in 2020 from the Brevard Zoo. team at the zoo said about Howard. The zoo only has one Southern White Rhino left, a female named LouLou.

The Southern White Rhinoceros is classified as 'Near Threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. This species has seen a notable recovery due to intensive conservation efforts, particularly in South Africa, which now hosts the majority of the population. 

The southern white rhino was nearly extinct near the end of the 19th century being reduced to a population of 20–50 animals due to sport hunting and land clearance. Thanks to intensive protection and translocation efforts, there were an estimated 18,064 southern white rhino in the wild as of 2017. White rhino trophy hunting was legalized and regulated in 1968 as part of a conservation effort.