The Future for Northern White Rhinos by Emma Schoonmaker
The northern white rhino was recently thought to be a soon-extinct species; however, with the recent discoveries made in Kenya, there might yet be hope for the rhinos.
Northern white rhinos originally lived around north-western Uganda, southern Chad, south-western Sudan, eastern Central African Republic, and north-eastern DRC. Sadly, due to shaky politics in the region and an increase in the hunt for the rhinos’ horns, the rhinos continued to be poached until the point of near extinction. Hostility all along Central Africa during the 1970s and 1980s shattered nearly the whole population of northern white rhinos; nevertheless, a paltry amount remained in Garamba National Park in DRC. A northern white rhino has not been seen in the wild, on its own, without human assistance, since 2006 in the DRC. A survey concluded in 2008 proved that in the wild, northern white rhinos have gone extinct. Currently, only two are alive, but they have been kept healthy at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Both females, their names are Najin and Fatu. The last male of this species died in 2018; his name was Sudan and he was 45 years old.
Recently, experts in the rhinoceros field have been searching for prospects of man-made reproductive methods. One technology that they have been seriously looking into is in vitro fertilization. They would use southern white rhino surrogate mothers to conserve the northern white rhino heredity in the future. Though success is not guaranteed, the scientists are trying their best in this race against time. They will not admit defeat until the last northern white rhino exhales their last breath and all other plausible plans have been attempted.
Already a sizable amount of northern white rhino embryos have been created using eggs from the last two females and sperm formerly acquired from males. The embryos are to be stored in frozen quarters so that they are ready to go for the surrogate mothers. These are baby steps compared to what will be taken in the future if all goes well; it is going to be a great distance to recuperation for the northern white rhinos.
Dr. Rob Brett, the Senior Technical Specialist in Africa, said, “Using surrogate southern white rhino mothers, it may be possible to generate future offspring from the remaining animals in the future. This will depend not only on full collaboration and sharing of expertise between artificial reproduction specialists from Europe and the US, but also on securing the funding and capacity required to establish dedicated rhino management facilities at Ol Pejeta, so that any future offspring can thrive in a natural habitat.”
Northern white rhinos originally lived around north-western Uganda, southern Chad, south-western Sudan, eastern Central African Republic, and north-eastern DRC. Sadly, due to shaky politics in the region and an increase in the hunt for the rhinos’ horns, the rhinos continued to be poached until the point of near extinction. Hostility all along Central Africa during the 1970s and 1980s shattered nearly the whole population of northern white rhinos; nevertheless, a paltry amount remained in Garamba National Park in DRC. A northern white rhino has not been seen in the wild, on its own, without human assistance, since 2006 in the DRC. A survey concluded in 2008 proved that in the wild, northern white rhinos have gone extinct. Currently, only two are alive, but they have been kept healthy at Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Both females, their names are Najin and Fatu. The last male of this species died in 2018; his name was Sudan and he was 45 years old.
Recently, experts in the rhinoceros field have been searching for prospects of man-made reproductive methods. One technology that they have been seriously looking into is in vitro fertilization. They would use southern white rhino surrogate mothers to conserve the northern white rhino heredity in the future. Though success is not guaranteed, the scientists are trying their best in this race against time. They will not admit defeat until the last northern white rhino exhales their last breath and all other plausible plans have been attempted.
Already a sizable amount of northern white rhino embryos have been created using eggs from the last two females and sperm formerly acquired from males. The embryos are to be stored in frozen quarters so that they are ready to go for the surrogate mothers. These are baby steps compared to what will be taken in the future if all goes well; it is going to be a great distance to recuperation for the northern white rhinos.
Dr. Rob Brett, the Senior Technical Specialist in Africa, said, “Using surrogate southern white rhino mothers, it may be possible to generate future offspring from the remaining animals in the future. This will depend not only on full collaboration and sharing of expertise between artificial reproduction specialists from Europe and the US, but also on securing the funding and capacity required to establish dedicated rhino management facilities at Ol Pejeta, so that any future offspring can thrive in a natural habitat.”