The baby is shown in the photograph here, offering our first glimmer of hope.
Earlier this year, in a groundbreaking step toward preventing the extinction of the critically endangered northern white rhino, scientists achieved the first successful in-vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancy in a southern white rhino.
This breakthrough could pave the way for saving the northern white rhino, of which only two females remain.
The research, conducted by the German-backed BioRescue team, marks a significant milestone. A surrogate southern white rhino carried a lab-grown embryo to 70 days, demonstrating that the method could work for the northern subspecies.
Tragically, the surrogate and her unborn calf were lost to a bacterial infection, but the trial validated the technique’s potential.
The next step involves implanting embryos created from eggs harvested from the surviving northern white rhino females and sperm preserved from two deceased males. This IVF method may also be used to save other endangered rhino species, like the Sumatran rhino, offering a glimmer of hope in the fight against poaching and habitat loss.
Peoplesmind
Image: BioRescue Project
