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Moments Before Extinction: The Desperation Of Caring For A Disappearing Species

Courtesy of David Hambridge
'Kifaru' documents the connection between the last male white rhino and his two caretakers.

In the award-winning documentary “Kifaru,” director and North Carolina State University alumnus David Hambridge follows two young Kenyan caretakers charged with protecting Sudan, the last male northern white rhinoceros in the world.

Since birth, Sudan ran the gauntlet. He was constantly under threat from poachers, trophy hunters, civil war, resource extraction and habitat loss. The documentary shadows the keepers as they tenderly care for Sudan until his death in 2018. While Sudan’s impending tragedy looms large in the film, Hambridge keeps the focus on the rhino keepers’ struggle with the ways their livelihoods are bound to Sudan’s fate. It also traces the unprecedented efforts to clone his DNA to help preserve the species.

https://vimeo.com/324886565">KIFARU | Trailer from https://vimeo.com/ragtagtribefilms">Ragtag Tribe Films on Vimeo.

Host Frank Stasio speaks with David Hambridge about filming Sudan and his keepers over the last five years of the rhino’s life. Also featured is the voice of James Mwenda, one of Sudan’s keepers, who has since become a global ambassador against extinction.

Hambridge will host a free public showing of his documentary Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Witherspoon Student Center on NC State’s Campus followed by a Q&A session with Marsha Gordon, film professor at North Carolina State University and a regular contributor to The State of Things’ Movies On The Radio series.

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Grant Holub-Moorman coordinates events and North Carolina outreach for WUNC, including a monthly trivia night. He is a founding member of Embodied and a former producer for The State of Things.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.