In August 2019 a team of scientists and conservationists broke new ground in saving the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. They harvested eggs from the two remaining females, artificially inseminated those using frozen sperm from deceased males and created two viable northern white rhino embryos. With great support from the Kenyan Government the team repeated the procedure on December 17, 2019, and was able to create a new embryo over Christmas. This significantly increases the chances of successfully producing offspring. The procedure has proven to be safe and reproducible, and can be performed on a regular basis before the animals become too old. Preparations for the next steps of the northern white rhino rescue mission are underway.
Please find the press release by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research on the Biorescue Project here:
http://www.biorescue.org/new-embryo-jan-2020-en.html
Hon Najib Balala (CS for Tourism & Wildlife) shares thoughts on Northern White Rhino Conservation:
https://youtu.be/4Rt0ai99EEIhttps://youtu.be/4Rt0ai99EEI
Picture by Ami Vitale
