Two female white rhinoceros could be the salvation of their species, declared functionally extinct years ago.
The death of a parent is always painful for their loved ones. In the case of Najin, his daughter, and Fatu, his granddaughter, the news was no less harsh. Sudan died of natural causes in the Kenyan nature reserve. It was a white rhinoceros exploited in circuses for years in the country that gave it its name. After being rescued, he became famous all over the world and earned a Life Pasture Retreat spacious and quiet north africa.
After his departure, the entire planet mourned: he was the last remaining male white rhino in the world, leaving Najin and Fatu alone. It could be sad news that the world’s two remaining northern white rhinos are female. This would indicate, at first, that they will never be able to reproduce again. Even more: that when the two remaining specimens die, the species will disappear from the face of the Earth completely.
Death of a father
In 2018, Sudan ended its passage through this world. Was the last Ceratotherium simum cottoni male of his kind, closing the possibility of reestablishing the species in a natural way. A small beam of light, however, opens for these two females, located in Kenya. After declaring as functionally extinct, the only hope for the northern white rhino to regain its population lies in the advancement of science and in vitro fertilization.
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Even though there seems to be no way out of this situation, it is not entirely insurmountable. Commonly known as IVF, they have been developed new fertilization techniques that will allow new babies of this species to be born. Today, sperm samples from dead males are still preserved in biobanks, which would allow two females may eventually get pregnant.
A race against time
At the beginning of the 20th century, there were no more than 100 white rhinos in the world. Nowadays, we have 20 thousand copies of this species in the south of the African continent. However, their northern cousins do not suffer the same fate. Although this is a palpable reality for Najin and Fatu, science suggests that yet we can help them conceive artificially.
With the establishment of Rhino Fertility Project at the University of Oxford, hope for northern white rhinos opens. This program aims to help solve the problem Najin and Fatu are currently in. The goal is to use tissue from deceased female rhino ovaries to grow many eggs, which can be fertilized from a laboratory.
In this way, it is possible that the northern white rhino can save itself and reestablish its population little by little. In addition, this technique could be extended to other threatened species, which need to recover from extinction.
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