Northern White Rhinos: One Last Chance.
The Northern White Rhino is teetering on the edge of extinction. As of today, there are only two left in the world — Najin and Fatu — and they’re both females.
To make matters worse, neither can carry a pregnancy.
In most cases, this would be the end of a species, with the remaining animals left to live out their final days. However, for the Northern White Rhino, hope remains.
A Miracle Of Science
In an attempt to save the doomed species, scientists from across the globe came up with an extraordinary idea that involved sperm samples of the male rhinos (taken before they died).
The sperm had been taken in the hopes that they could artificially inseminate the females.
Sadly, their attempts failed. But they weren’t giving up that easily.
Next, they tried to make an embryo of the rhino in a lab.
This involved a careful procedure in which Dr Hildebrandt, from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), had to safely extract eggs from the two females, all within two hours. Any longer, and the animals would’ve died, as Rhinos cannot be safely anaesthetised for long periods.
In 2019, 19 eggs were successfully extracted from both Najin and Fatu, and both rhinos survived.
The Next Step
After successfully retrieving the eggs, scientists had to fertilise them with the sperm.
Cesare Galli, an Italian IVF expert, became the man for the job.
In the past, Galli had struggled to make embryo’s from other rhino species, because the sperm is mixed with urine and so is notoriously of low quality.
“That’s because, to get the sperm, they go up the rectum and electrocute the rhino to make the sperm come out, this method makes sperm and urine and other liquids come out altogether.” Professor Galli.
Eventually, Galli made a breakthrough — he electrocuted the egg to get it and the sperm to form an embryo.
When it came to fertilising the incredibly rare Northern White Rhino egg, he know what would work.
Galli successfully made two embryos in August 2019, and another four months later. They are currently preserved in his lab.
Another Stumbling Block
To grow, the embryo’s need a womb — but neither Najin or Fatu’s are suitable.
Nineteen year old Fatu has never had a calf, and when vets gave her an ultrasound they found she had no lining on her uterus, meaning she cannot carry a pregnancy to full term.
Najin, Fatu’s mother, has weak hind legs — when rhinos are pregnant the hormone progesterone changes the dynamics of their legs. Stephen Ngulu, a vet at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, said that “if she falls down and you can’t get her up, then that’s it — you lose her and you lose the baby.”
They don’t want to take that risk.
The Solution
Instead, they plan to use Southern White Rhino surrogates, the other sub-species of White Rhino in Africa.
In the past, attempts to put embryo’s in Southern White Rhinos have failed, as scientists are struggling to work out the best time to implant the embryo.
One idea is to implant the embryo immediately after sex.
It’s a plan that Dr Ngulu is prepared for:
“So if you see that bull mounting, you say: ‘Rhino’s ready.’ You dart that rhino, you put the embryo in. That’s the dream.” Dr Ngulu.
Four wild female southern white rhinos have been enclosed with their offspring in their natural habitat not far from the last two remaining northern white rhinos.
All they need is to introduce a male.
If this audacious plan works, then it is truly a scientific triumph.
Potentially, the Southern White Rhino could bring a species back from the dead. All we can do is hope.
