"There are only two Northern White Rhinos left in the world, and scientists are racing against time to save their species."-- Lottie Mills, 7th grade
Have you heard about the Northern White Rhino? It is one of two types of White Rhinos: Southern White Rhinos and Northern White Rhinos. The Southern White Rhino’s conservation status is near threatened, while the Northern White Rhino is critically endangered, mainly due to poaching.
The Northern White Rhino species consists of only two rhinos: Najin and Fatu, both female and living at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Najin, born in 1989, in captivity, is Fatu’s (born in 2000) mother. The species was declared functionally extinct in 2018, after we lost the last male Northern White Rhino, a gentle giant named Sudan. This made it impossible for the species to naturally reproduce and save itself. Because of that, these rhinos need our help to keep these creatures from being wiped off the face of the earth.
In order to bring the Northern White Rhino back, scientists from Colossal Biosciences and the BioRescue consortium are attempting in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). IVF is “a medical procedure whereby an egg is fertilized by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body,” according to Oxford languages. This had never been done before on rhinos, so the scientist tried it out first using a Southern White Rhino embryo and putting it into a surrogate Southern White Rhino female.
According to the article, “We will save them': The quest to rescue nearly extinct rhinos,” “A year ago scientists announced a breakthrough: a surrogate was pregnant with a male southern white foetus, the first time IVF had worked for rhinos” The article continues, “[but] By the time the 6.4-centimeter, 70-day-old foetus was discovered, the surrogate had already died from an unrelated bacteria infection.”
This meant that the experiment had worked, so they were ready to try it with a northern white rhino embryo. The scientists extracted eggs from the youngest female Northern White Rhino, Fatu, (both the females can no longer give birth due to health problems), and fertilized them with sperm from deceased male Northern White Rhinos to create embryos. They are then implanting the Northern White Rhino embryos into Southern White Rhino females, the closest they can get to a Northern White Rhino. So far, none of the embryos have become a successful pregnancy, but scientists are still trying.
Some might ask, should we be intervening to save the species at all? Or should we just let nature run its course? Well, one reason scientists think we should step in is because it’s our fault that they're almost extinct in the first place. They say that since humans hunted the rhinos to extinction, it’s also humans' job to bring them back.
“I do think we should be intervening to save the species [because] people are intervening to end the species,” said Logan Bergmark, an eighth grade Literary Arts student..
Poaching is the act of hunting/catching animals illegally, usually for their horns,tusks, or meat. Now, you might be thinking: isn’t poaching illegal now? No one does it anymore. And while it is true that it’s illegal, it is false that people don’t do it anymore. Many people still kill animals illegally and sell their valuable parts on the black market. This has affected thousands of species, such as elephants, tigers, and pangolins. Rhinos are mainly targeted by poachers for their horns. Many think that this is because their horns are made out of ivory, but that is actually untrue! Their horns are made out of keratin, the same material that our fingernails and hair are made out of. They are primarily hunted due to the belief that rhino horns have medicinal value, but that is also not true.
It’s shocking to realize how little people understand about the consequences of their actions. There are so many species close to extinction, but none of us realize it. We keep on with our little lives in our little towns, never stopping to think about what is going on in the outside world. Hopefully the realization that this magnificent species is two deaths away from extinction will serve as a wake up call to all of us here on earth. To help them, you can donate and support conservation organizations like Save the Rhino. You can educate others about the Northern White Rhino, and make sure not to buy any products made from rhino horn. I just hope we understand it and all of us, not just the scientists, start working together to save them before it’s too late.
The Northern White Rhino species consists of only two rhinos: Najin and Fatu, both female and living at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Najin, born in 1989, in captivity, is Fatu’s (born in 2000) mother. The species was declared functionally extinct in 2018, after we lost the last male Northern White Rhino, a gentle giant named Sudan. This made it impossible for the species to naturally reproduce and save itself. Because of that, these rhinos need our help to keep these creatures from being wiped off the face of the earth.
In order to bring the Northern White Rhino back, scientists from Colossal Biosciences and the BioRescue consortium are attempting in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). IVF is “a medical procedure whereby an egg is fertilized by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body,” according to Oxford languages. This had never been done before on rhinos, so the scientist tried it out first using a Southern White Rhino embryo and putting it into a surrogate Southern White Rhino female.
According to the article, “We will save them': The quest to rescue nearly extinct rhinos,” “A year ago scientists announced a breakthrough: a surrogate was pregnant with a male southern white foetus, the first time IVF had worked for rhinos” The article continues, “[but] By the time the 6.4-centimeter, 70-day-old foetus was discovered, the surrogate had already died from an unrelated bacteria infection.”
This meant that the experiment had worked, so they were ready to try it with a northern white rhino embryo. The scientists extracted eggs from the youngest female Northern White Rhino, Fatu, (both the females can no longer give birth due to health problems), and fertilized them with sperm from deceased male Northern White Rhinos to create embryos. They are then implanting the Northern White Rhino embryos into Southern White Rhino females, the closest they can get to a Northern White Rhino. So far, none of the embryos have become a successful pregnancy, but scientists are still trying.
Some might ask, should we be intervening to save the species at all? Or should we just let nature run its course? Well, one reason scientists think we should step in is because it’s our fault that they're almost extinct in the first place. They say that since humans hunted the rhinos to extinction, it’s also humans' job to bring them back.
“I do think we should be intervening to save the species [because] people are intervening to end the species,” said Logan Bergmark, an eighth grade Literary Arts student..
Poaching is the act of hunting/catching animals illegally, usually for their horns,tusks, or meat. Now, you might be thinking: isn’t poaching illegal now? No one does it anymore. And while it is true that it’s illegal, it is false that people don’t do it anymore. Many people still kill animals illegally and sell their valuable parts on the black market. This has affected thousands of species, such as elephants, tigers, and pangolins. Rhinos are mainly targeted by poachers for their horns. Many think that this is because their horns are made out of ivory, but that is actually untrue! Their horns are made out of keratin, the same material that our fingernails and hair are made out of. They are primarily hunted due to the belief that rhino horns have medicinal value, but that is also not true.
It’s shocking to realize how little people understand about the consequences of their actions. There are so many species close to extinction, but none of us realize it. We keep on with our little lives in our little towns, never stopping to think about what is going on in the outside world. Hopefully the realization that this magnificent species is two deaths away from extinction will serve as a wake up call to all of us here on earth. To help them, you can donate and support conservation organizations like Save the Rhino. You can educate others about the Northern White Rhino, and make sure not to buy any products made from rhino horn. I just hope we understand it and all of us, not just the scientists, start working together to save them before it’s too late.