There are only two Northern White Rhinos left in the world - and sadly they are both female.

The news shook to the core the pupils at Hayesbrook School in Tonbridge.

They learnt all about the plight of the rhinos from James Mwenda, who looks after the pair on a game reserve in Kenya.

They are a mother and daughter, named Najin and Fatu.

Mr Mwenda was brought over to England to raise awareness of the threat to rhinos by the charity Helping Rhinos.

The charity's chief executive officer Simon Jones said: "It's a very sad story. Functionally Northern Whites are extinct, since the last male, who was named Sudan, died in March last year."

Fortunately the conservationists have not given up all hope of saving the species.

They have semen saved from the Sudan and there are plans to fertilise eggs from the two remaining females and to use a Southern White Rhino as a surrogate mother.

Most people would not tell the difference between a northern white and a southern white, although experts will tell you the bone structure of the northern white is slightly sleeker and they have longer heads.

They used to live in the Congo and areas of |Central Africa that have been riven by war, which has allowed poaching to go unchecked.

There are still around 19,000 to 20,000 southern white rhinos left, mainly in South Africa and Kenya.

The rhino is the second largest land mammal after the elephant.

They can live 50 years and easily weigh 3.5 tonnes. White rhinos are not white at all. The name is derivative of the Afrikaans word 'weit', meaning wide, and refers to their broad snouts.

Mr Jones who accompanied Mr Mwenda to the school in Brook Street, said: "The reaction of the children was phenomenal. They were completely absorbed for the full 40 minutes of James' talk It really affected many of them emotionally."