Scientists Could Save White Rhinos from Extinction

Scientists Could Save White Rhinos from Extinction

Scientists Could Save White Rhinos from Extinction Credit: Pixabay

SCIENTISTS could save White Rhinos from extinction as they create five embryos.

Northern white rhinos are on the brink of extinction with no known males still surviving and only two females still alive. They are the second largest of the Earth’s land mammals and scientists have come up with a cunning plan in a bid to avoid their extinction.

Scientists have recently managed to create two new embryos, and they used the sperm from Sudan, a male rhino who died in March 2018. This means there are now a total of five embryos that could be used to repopulate the species.

A further three embryos were created in 2019 and are ready to use to. The scientists plan to use IVF to bring the white rhinos back from extinction but a further complication is the fact they must use a surrogate mother. Neither of the two remaining female white rhinos are able to have calves.

The last white rhino females are a mother and daughter pair who are living in Kenya and are named Najin and Fatu.

According to WWF in the 1960s there were over 2000 rhinos remaining spread across southern Chad, the Central African Republic, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southwestern Sudan, and northwestern Uganda. But the lack of control over poachers has meant that now tragically only two northern white rhinos are left.

WWF said, “Uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era was historically the major factor in the decline of white rhinos. Today, poaching for the illegal trade in their horns is the major threat,

“Powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of illnesses – from hangovers to fevers and even cancer.”

Scientists hope to use the embryos in the next three years to allow the remaining rhinos to transfer their social knowledge the calves.


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Alex
Written by

Alex Glenn

Originally from the UK, Alex is based in Almeria and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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