And then there were three!
Wow! In a truly groundbreaking advancement, scientists announced a global first on Wednesday, potentially rescuing Northern White Rhinos from extinction.
The BioRescue project's team achieved success by impregnating a southern white rhino through in vitro fertilization (IVF), offering a potential lifeline for the endangered northern white rhino species.
Northern white rhinos, with only two remaining individuals, Najin and Fatu, both infertile females, are critically endangered and closely monitored in Kenya.
Stored in Italy and Germany are living cells from 12 different northern white rhinos, contributing to an international effort to save the species.
The sperm, sourced from Athos, a southern white rhinoceros at Zoo Salzburg in Austria, and egg cells retrieved from Elenore at Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium, were transferred to Italy for in vitro fertilization.
Two embryos resulting from the process were implanted in a surrogate mother, Curra, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in September 2023. Despite setbacks with the deaths of Curra and the "teaser" bull Ouwan in November due to a severe bacterial infection, it was revealed that Curra was pregnant with a 70-day-old male fetus, affirming the success of the embryo transfer.
The BioRescue team, led by Thomas Hildebrandt, considers this venture "uncharted territory," having developed procedures, protocols, methods, and equipment from scratch.
Despite challenges, the next phase involves selecting a new southern white rhino surrogate mother and teaser bull, advancing efforts to develop a northern white rhino embryo for implantation. The eventual goal is to introduce the offspring to Najin and Fatu, allowing them to learn the behaviors of the northern white rhino species.
Great news for other critically ALL endangered species for sure.
#endangeredspecies #endangeredanimals #whiterhino #savethewhiterhino
