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AFP

Scientists have made a promising first step towards the survival of the northern white rhinoceros, a practically extinct subspecies, having created in vitro the first embryos of the pachyderm.

Sudan, the last male of the northern white rhino, died in March at the age of 45 in the Ken Petah Reserve.

His daughter and granddaughter, Najin and Fatu, became the last living specimens of this subspecies native to Central Africa, decimated by poaching.

To ensure their survival, many relied on science.

With an unprecedented badisted procreation procedure in rhinoceros, "the first essential step in saving this subspecies has been taken," said an international team of researchers from Nature Communications

. the oocytes of southern white rhino females, of which about 20,000 wild specimens remain in southern Africa.

Eggs were fertilized in vitro, some with frozen spermatozoa from northern white rhinos and others with sperm from their cousin. in the south, in the laboratories of the Italian company Avantea.

The result: seven embryos, three of which (one south-south and two south-north) were frozen

Purpose: 3 years

But this is only the beginning of the birth of the first Northern rhinoceros 'pure', in a term of 'three years', said Thomas Hildebrandt, of the Zoological and Animal Leibniz Research Institute of Berlin.

For this purpose, the researchers hope to collect oocytes from the two females, Najin and Fatu, born in 1989 and 2000 respectively, in the Czech zoo of Dvur Kralove

"We hope to do it here. end of the year, "according to Jan Stejskal, director of this zoo, who attempted unsuccessfully artificial insemination before sending them to Kenya with the hope – also frustrated – of natural reproduction.

Scientists created the hybrid embryos instead of directly extracting the oocytes from both females because this intervention requires the authorization of the Kenyan authorities.

In addition, they had to invent a technique and a two meters long tool to extract oocytes from white rhinoceros

"Taking into account the 16 months of pregnancy, we just had more than a year to perform implantation" in a mother carrying a white rhinoceros south, since neither Najin nor Fatu n They can end a pregnancy, according to Hildebrant.

This expert pointed out that both females are the only ones able to "teach social life to a northern white rhinoceros" so he hopes the little one will be able to grow with them.

In case they can not retire Najin or Fatu's oocytes, other experiments are underway to try to produce gametes (oocytes and spermatozoa) of northern white rhinoceroses through stem cells induced pluripotents, which have the potential to become any kind of cell. 19659004] But experts warn of "the impossibility of restoring a viable population of northern white rhinos," according to Terri Roth and William Swanson, of the Cincinnati Zoo Research Center, who did not participated in the study.

predict that their initiative will provoke criticism from the world of conservation, sometimes hostile to the use of biotechnology.

"They have already blamed us for spending money in this way.", According to Jan Stejskal. But for this expert, the fight must be carried out on all fronts: "conservation in the field, fight against demand (horns) in Asia and support for science".