The 57-year-old rhino is believed to have died of natural causes, according to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority. In the wild, rhinos generally reach an age between 37 and 43.
Fausta, a female black rhino, died in Tanzania on December 27 at the age of 57, the authorities in Ngorongoro, where the animal had lived, said in a statement on Saturday.The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority said the rhino was the oldest in the world.
"Records show that Fausta lived longer than any rhino in the world and survived in the Ngorongoro, free-ranging, for more than 54 years" before she was moved to a sanctuary in 2016, said the statement.
"Fausta was first located in the Ngorongoro crater in 1965 by a scientist from the University of Dar Es Salaam, at the age of between three and four years," the statement added. "Her health began to deteriorate in 2016, when we were forced to put the animal in captivity, after several attacks from hyena and severe wounds thereafter."
In 2017, Sana, the oldest white rhino at the time, died in captivity at the La Planete Sauvage Zoological Park in France.
The black rhinoceros, also known as the hook-lipped rhino, is native to eastern and southern Africa. Although it is referred to as "black," specimens' colors can range from brown to grey.
Zoologists estimate the life expectancy of rhinos to be between 37 and 43 years in the wild, while they can live longer in captivity.
