The northern white rhinocerosonce a majestic symbol of African fauna, is now considered functionally extinct. This means that although two females alive (Fatu and Najin, both in captivity),.
The disappearance was largely, the poachingpowered by the demand of the precious horn, used both in Traditional Asian Medicine that as an ornamental object. Originally from central Africa, the northern white rhinoceros is one of the two subspecies of white rhinoceros (the other is the southern one, still present in nature).
With its massive body, which can exceed 3,500 kg, and a front horn that grows throughout life, represents one of the mega herbivores more influential in the savannah. These animals play a crucial role in maintaining theAfrican ecosystemmodifying the vegetation and reducing the risk of fires.
The death of the last male, Sudanon March 19, 2018 he marked a point of no return. The only two remained females, Najin and Fatutoday they live in captivity a protected reserve in Kenya, but due to lack of male specimens they are unable to procreate naturally. Hence the need to intervene with advanced technologies of assisted reproduction.
How to try to stop their extinction
In an attempt to save this subspecies, the BioresCue projectan international initiative that uses in vitro fertilization techniques. Scientists picked up eggs from the two females and fertilize them with frozen sperm of deceased male specimens. The embryos are then frozen waiting to be implanted in surrogate females of southern white rhinoceros.
To date they have been produced 35 embryosthe only hope for the species. The project involves international research institutes, such as the Leibniz Institute of Berlin and the University of Padua, which collaborate to obtain a future for this animal. Also the University of Osaka is studying the possibility of creating reproductive cells starting from stem cellsopening innovative scenarios in the conservation of biodiversity.
In the meantime also the Southern white rhinocerosdespite the progress of the past years, continues to be under monitoringabove all because of the farewell of poaching and climate change. The fate of the northern white rhinoceros is still uncertain and the last and only hope to save him is hanging on a very thin thread.
