Najin and Fatu, the two remaining northern white rhinos. Source: nytimes.com.
On September 11, 2019, Italian scientists announced that they had successfully created two northern white rhino embryos. With only two surviving females of the subspecies left, the white rhino was all but extinct; however, this development of two embryos was a huge step forward for both Northern white rhinos and endangered species as a whole.
To carry out the scientific feat of creating viable northern white rhino embryos and preventing their extinction, an international consortium of scientists and conservationists harvested immature egg cells from the two living females and artificially inseminated the egg cells using frozen sperm that they collected from a now-deceased male rhino. In the near future, the embryos will be transferred into southern white rhino surrogate mothers to create northern white rhino offspring.
While it is significant that this is the first time that scientists have been able to produce embryos for northern white rhinos using in vitro fertilization (IVF), the next step for these embryos will be the most difficult. Developing a viable pregnancy with a surrogate southern white rhino has never been achieved, and this process is further complicated by the two existing females’ health issues. One of the females, Najin, is far older than the ideal pregnancy age for a white rhino and has a tumor in her abdomen.
Najin, aged 31. Source: smithsonianmag.com.
Even with the challenges ahead, scientists are determined to do everything they can to get the white rhino species on the road towards stability. Scientists have stored the embryos in liquid nitrogen, and they have since added three more embryos to the original two as of February 2021. Conservationists hope to implant these embryos into the southern white rhino surrogate mothers, who will hopefully give birth to northern white rhino offspring around sixteen months later. On top of being tasked with giving birth to the white rhino offspring, the surrogate mothers must also remain healthy to raise their calves.
Finally, in addition to the maze of obstacles mentioned above, the emergence of the COVID-19 virus has delayed the process, which, paired with Najin’s old age, has put this entire process on an extremely tight timetable. Hon Najib Balala, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, sums up the mix of stress and excitement around this situation perfectly: “I am delighted that the world has a chance through the use of cutting edge and innovative technologies to save this threatened wildlife species for posterity and that Kenya is playing its part in this critical conservation effort. We must do everything possible to save this species from extinction. Remember, extinction is forever. Once we lose this species, we will have lost an iconic animal which will not be seen again.”