Endangered: Hope for Northern White Rhino

When the Sudan bull rhino died in March, the fate of its subspecies seemed sealed – it was their last male representative. But now there is hope: the researchers made embryos.

Scientists artificially produced white rhinoceros embryos for the first time. This is an essential step in ensuring the survival of the nearly extinct subspecies, write the researchers in the journal "Nature Communications".

The Sudanese bull, the last male representative of the genus, died in March in a nature reserve in Kenya. The only surviving representatives of the subspecies since his daughter from Sudan and their daughter, who also live in Kenyan Ol Pejeta Park. Both are sterile. The last white rhinos in the North were killed by poachers more than a decade ago.

Three embryos were frozen

Researchers have now extracted oocytes from female white rhinoceroses from European zoos. These are closely related subspecies, of which approximately 20,000 wild animals still live in southern Africa. These cells were then fertilized in the laboratory with both frozen spermatozoa from the north and sperm from Southern White. Seven embryos were obtained in the laboratory. Three of them – one southern specimen and two south-north crossings – were frozen.

The goal is that the first small Northern White Rhino be born in three years, says Thomas Hildebrandt of the Berlin Leibniz Institute for Zoological Research. A southern white rhinoceros cow should serve as a surrogate

Important role of the last subspecies of the subspecies

Nevertheless, the last two live rhinos have an important role to play: Hildebrandt are the only ones to treat the behavior social of a minor of its kind. In addition, the results of previous experiments would only allow the birth of a white rhinoceros crossed. For a hundred percent northern representative, researchers should remove eggs from the northern white rhinoceros. But until now, permission from the Kenyan authorities is missing. However, other researchers still see little reason to be optimistic.

Rhinos have few natural enemies because of their imposing size. But they are coveted poachers. The high demand for Chinese medicine horns and dagger handles in Yemen has significantly reduced the population of white rhinos in North Africa. In 2008, the subspecies was declared extinct in the wild.