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BERLIN – Scientists claim that they are about to develop a method that could prevent the extinction of northern white rhinos, of which only two animals are still alive.
According to an article published Wednesday Journal Nature Communications, researchers were able to create embryos using white rhino sperm and eggs from a southern white rhino, a closely related subspecies.
This is the first time that hybrid embryos are created. Italy and the Czech Republic say it could provide a way to save the critically endangered northern white rhino after the last male, called Sudan, died in March.
They plan to harvest the eggs of the two surviving rhinos soon and use preserved sperm to produce "pure" northern white rhinoceros embryos. Since the females, a mother and a daughter named Najin and Fatu, are unable to reproduce themselves, the embryos would be implanted in a southern white rhinoceros substitute.
To increase the supply of eggs and preserve the genetics of the northern white rhinoceros. Diversity, scientists are also working on a second method that would bring frozen skin cells from dead animals to become eggs, a procedure that has already succeeded in mice.
Thomas Hildebrandt, of the Leibniz Institute for Zoological and Wildlife Research in Berlin, said the researchers hoped that the first northern white rhinoceros was about three years old
. We are very confident with the technology we have developed, "he said during a conference call with reporters detailing the research.
Saving the northern white rhino has become an international effort But some rivalries between scientists and institutions around the world, including the zoos of San Diego and Cincinnati, have however been criticized by some experts
but they are too late
merit is laudable and it could have some application to the conservation of threatened species in the future, "said Richard Kock, a curator at the British Royal Veterinary College who has worked extensively in Africa. "But I'm afraid Nero is manipulating the white (Northern) rhino violently."
Kock and his fellow conservationists warned of the white rhinoceros subspecies, pointing out that his cousin from the South has returned to the brink of extinction and now has about 21,000 individuals .
Instead, they suggested that the work should focus on the safeguarding of other endangered rhinoceros species that may still be found in the wild. expensive and their success is far from guaranteed. Meanwhile, we do not have enough funds to conserve the other four rhinoceros species, which are all more at risk of extinction than the white rhino, "said Bob Smith, director of the National Wildlife Service. Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, England
Hildebrandt insisted that the effort was worth it. "The Northern White Rhino does not have much to do with it. has not failed in evolution, "he said." He failed because it is not bullet-proof. He was shot by criminals who went for the horn because the horn is more expensive than gold. "
Northern white rhinos were once abundant in Central and Eastern Africa, but the conflicts and poaching erased them from their natural habitat.The disappearance left a void in the ecosystem of the region that could have significant impacts in the future, said Hildebrandt. "We have the tools to correct that."
Cesare Galli, whose Italian company Avantea has long experience in artificial horse breeding, said that Recent advances in stem cell technology could help preserve rhinos The team hopes that scientists will be able to produce new rhinoceros eggs from frozen skin cells within a decade [19659002] Jan Stejskal, spokesman for the zoo Dvur Kralove in the Czech Republic, who has a long history of rhinoceros conservation, said: Scientists are hoping for to visit Kenya before the end of the year. They are still waiting for permission from the Kenyan authorities to carry out the delicate procedure of Najin and Fatu's ova removal.
While scientists are confident of being able to harvest eggs from both females, questions remain about risk for the few. Animal health.
"As scientists, we are very afraid that something unexpected will happen during this procedure," Hildebrandt said. "It would be a nightmare."
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