A legacy of greed

A legacy of greed

Context

How science is stepping in to save the northern white rhino from extinction

Places where Northern white rhinos cold be found earlier

• Southern Chad
• The Central African Republic
• Southwestern Sudan
• Northwestern Uganda, and
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo

Why were these rhinos hunted?

They were hunted for their horns, an ingredient in traditional Vietnamese medicine

How many of these animals remain?

Only two northern white rhinos remain: Sudan’s daughter Najin and granddaughter Fatu, neither of whom will be able to carry a pregnancy to term. Hence, scientists are planning to resurrect the sub-species via in vitro fertilisation and stem cell technology

How are scientists planning to revive the sub-species?

From Berlin, a team of scientists from Leibniz-IZW (Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research) will go to Kenya in May to extract eggs from Najin and Fatu. In Cremona, Italy, the eggs will be fertilised with the sperm of northern white rhino bulls. Sudan’s sperm is not viable due to lack of genetic distance. Once the eggs are fertilised, they will need surrogate mothers and the closest living relatives are the southern white rhinos. IVF has been performed successfully on the Asian lion and the team at Leibniz-IZW is developing the procedure for rhinos. Steven Seet from Leibniz-IZW is optimistic about IVF. In the next two to three years, it is probable that the world will welcome the first living IVF northern white rhino