There are roughly 20,000 southern white rhinos in Africa after efforts to save them from extinction began in the 1950s.
Efforts to safeguard the subspecies by moving a small number to Kenya collapsed. The last northern white rhinos in the wild were observed more than a decade ago in Congo's Garamba National Park, whose animals have often been targeted by armed groups amid conflict in the region. Northern white rhinos once roamed parts of Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Congo and Central African Republic, and there were more than 2,000 remaining as recently as 1960, according to Save the Rhino International, a London-based group. Once dubbed 'the most eligible bachelor in the world,' Sudan is now 45. The team hopes to be able to deliver its first northern white rhino calf in three years and a wider population in the next 20 years.Pictured in healthier condition, Sudan arrives at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on Dec. “We are very optimistic that the project will succeed,” he told the Reuters news agency. In Fatu’s case, there have been so far “12 pure northern white rhino embryos”, said David Ndeereh, the acting deputy director for research at the Wildlife Research and Training Institute, a Kenyan state agency.
“These findings might explain why oocyte collections were not as successful with her as they have been with Fatu.” “Recent ultrasound examinations had revealed multiple small, benign tumours in Najin’s cervix and uterus as well as a large cystic structure in her left ovary,” Ol Pejeta said. In a statement, Biorescue cited ethical considerations for the halting of the egg harvesting and said Najin’s advanced age, as well signs of illness, were also taken into account. Northern white rhinos, which are actually grey, used to roam freely in several countries in east and central Africa, but their numbers fell sharply due to widespread poaching for their horns.Ī Biorescue team led by researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany has been racing against time to save the world’s most endangered mammal. Today we bring you the news that Najin, the older of the two remaining northern white rhino females, will officially be retired as a donor of egg cells (oocytes) under the programme aimed to recover the species. It added that oocyte collections in Najin have yielded only a few eggs to date, with none of them able to fertilise successfully into an embryo.
“This decision was arrived at after an in-depth ethical risk assessment, weighing up risks and opportunities for the individuals and the entire species rendering this decision without an alternative,” the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, home to the mother and daughter, said in a statement on Thursday. Scientists hope to implant embryos made from the rhinos’ egg cells and frozen sperm from deceased males into surrogate mothers. There are no known living males and neither of the two remaining northern white rhinos can carry a calf to term. Najin, 32, is the mother of Fatu who is now the only donor left in the programme, which aims to implant artificially developed embryos into another more abundant species of rhino in Kenya. One of the world’s last two northern white rhinos is being retired from a breeding programme aimed at saving the species from extinction, scientists have said.