As of today, there remains only two northern white rhinoceros left on this planet. Najin and Fatu are their names – both of them are females where Fatu is the daughter of Najin.
Moreover, neither of the two female rhinos are capable of giving birth. This situation is posing a seemingly impossible challenge for researchers who are keen on protecting the species from going extinct.
Back in 2009, there used to two rhinos of each sex. Researchers desperately tried to have the animals mate to produce offsprings yet failed. One of the males, named Suni, died in 2014 due to natural causes. The last white rhino male, named Sudan, was euthanized because of his muscle and skin infection conditions.
Thus the mother and daughter rhinos are the only residents in the vast fenced space of Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The center is located in central Kenya, the natural habitats for the northern white rhinos.
The only chance that the researchers have are with the sperm that they have preserved from the last two male species. They had been collected with the purpose of artificially inseminating the female species.
However, the effort has proven futile so far. Insemination has been attempted on both the northern white rhinos and southern white rhinos, who share almost the exact DNA structure. Their southern cousins are also endangered, but at least 20,000 species remain in the wild.
The plan is to fertilize the eggs and sperms of the norther rhinos and use a souther rhino as a surrogate mother.
Unfortunately, these artificial insemination attempts have failed mainly because of the rhinos’ physical features. Getting hold of an egg that they could try to work with in the labs have been proved extremely difficult for many reasons.
A rhino’s ovaries are located 4.9 feet (1.5m) inside a female rhino, entangled by the intestines. It also cannot be reached through the abdomen because that would cause permanent damage to the rhino’s tough yet non-regenerating skin.
The researchers are doing everything they can do maximize the chances of preserving this marvelous animal. Right next to the conservatory, there is another fenced conservation area where four female southern rhinos are living. They may be the last chance we have to save an entire species from going extinct.
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