Scientists Hope To Save Northern White Rhino from Extinction
Local Editor
As the health of the world's last male northern white rhino declines in Kenya, a global team of scientists and conservationists is pushing ahead with an ambitious effort to save the subspecies from extinction with the help of the two surviving females.
Participants in the project to create northern white rhino embryos through in vitro fertilization say its success depends not on the sick, elderly male named Sudan, but on his daughter Najin and granddaughter Fatu, whose eggs would likely have to be extracted because the rhinos can't reproduce naturally.
Even so, Sudan, who could be euthanized because of a leg infection, is something of a celebrity, attracting thousands of visitors to his home at Ol Pejeta Conservancy and being listed as "The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World" on the Tinder dating app last year in a fundraising effort.
"Sudan has been technically infertile for many years, so him dying is not going to affect the possibilities of recovery for the northern white rhino as a species," Richard Vigne, the conservancy's CEO, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Semen from dead northern white rhinos is stored in various locations around the world, and it is critical to keep the two females alive "until such time when the protocol or technique for in vitro fertilization has been perfected so that we can begin that process," Vigne said.
Supporters think the work could be used to help other endangered species, while some conservationists believe the focus should be on other critically endangered species, including the Javan and Sumatran rhinos that have suffered because of poaching and human encroachment on habitats.
Northern white rhinos were particularly vulnerable because of conflicts that swept their central African range; the last ones in the wild were observed more than a decade ago in Congo's Garamba National Park, a frequent target of well-armed poachers.
The rhino Sudan, 45, is the father of 27-year-old Najin, who has weak back legs and can't support the weight of a pregnancy, and grandfather of 17-year-old Fatu, who can't carry an embryo because of a uterus problem.
The last male northern white rhino was born in Sudan, taken to a Czech zoo and then transferred to Kenya in 2009 along with Najin, Fatu and another male who died in 2014. Rangers caring for Sudan describe him as gentle and say they are sad about his possibly imminent death.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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