KENYA (WTNH)– Armed guards have been hired in Kenya to protect an endangered rhinoceros.

This is not just any rhino, it is the Northern White Rhino and the only male left in the entire world.

According to CNN, the rhino’s name is Sudan and he spends his time grazing and waddling around the savannah in the conservancy, where he is under 24-hour security.  The species has been nearly wiped out because of poaching. Officials say the rhino’s horn is becoming more lucrative than drugs, because of a belief in Asia that the horn cures various ailments.

In all there are five white rhinos left on the planet. Three of them, including the sole male Sudan, are living at the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya. The other two are at zoos in San Diego and Czech Republic.

There are no known Northern White Rhinos left in the wild, so it’s up to Sudan to conceive with the other two female white rhinos at the conservancy, Fatu and Najin, to preserve the species.

For a rhino, Sudan is old at age 42, so officials are worried that he may not be able to physically mate with a female, in addition to his low sperm count.

CNN reports that a committee is looking into other reproduction techniques like in vitro fertilization or attempting to mate the Northern White Rhino with a non-endangered Southern White Rhino.