Scientists create embryos to save northern white rhino

Scientists working to bring back the functionally extinct northern white rhino have announced that they have successfully created three more embryos of the subspecies, bringing the total to 12.

One of the two remaining living specimens in the world – a Fatu female who lives with her mother Najin in the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Reserve in Kenya – provided the eggs for the project, while the sperm used came from two different deceased men.

The Biorescue scientific consortium described in a press release Thursday evening how the eggs were collected in Fatu in early July before being airlifted to a laboratory in Italy for fertilization, development and preservation.

Neither Fatu nor Najin are capable of carrying a calf to term, so surrogates for the embryos will be selected from a southern white rhino population.

The director of Ol Pejeta, Richard Vigne, told AFP on Friday that he believed in the chances of success of the project, while stressing the importance of the stake.

“No one is going to say it will be easy,” he said.

“We’re doing things that are scientifically cutting edge and we’re dealing with genetics, with the last two northern white rhinos left on the planet,” said Vigne.

“There are many, many things that could go wrong,” he said. “I think everyone understands the challenges that remain.”

Since 2019, Biorescue has collected 80 eggs from Najin and Fatu, but the 12 viable embryos are all from the young rhino.

The project is a multinational effort with scientists from the German Leibniz Institute supporting the Kenya Wildlife Service and Ol Pejeta, and the Italian Avantea laboratory providing fertilization support.

Kenyan Tourism Minister Najib Balala welcomed the news.

“It is very encouraging to note that the project has continued to make good progress in its ambitious attempts to save an iconic species from extinction,” he said in the press release.

Rhinos have very few natural predators but their numbers have been decimated by poaching since the 1970s.

Modern rhinos have roamed the planet for 26 million years, and it is estimated that over a million still lived in the wild by the mid-19th century.