The Northern White rhino is on the brink of extinction. In the chart, you can see the collapse of this beautiful animal’s population as a result of poaching, habitat loss, and conflict.
Now, only two individuals are left — Najin and her daughter, Fatu. Without males, the subspecies is “functionally extinct” and cannot rebuild its population naturally.
Scientists, though, offer some hope of bringing the rhino back through assisted reproduction. Eggs from Najin and Fatu have been fertilized with preserved sperm from dead male rhinos to produce viable embryos. Since neither Najin nor Fatu can carry a pregnancy, the plan is to use a female Southern White rhino — the closest subspecies — as a surrogate, to carry the embryo through to birth.
In 2023, a surrogate called Curra became pregnant, showing that the method works. Sadly, she died of a bacterial infection during pregnancy.
Scientists plan to try again and are also exploring other breakthrough reproduction treatments to save the Northern White rhino before it’s lost forever.
Read my article on why large mammals are so threatened with extinction →