Kenya to Save Northern White Rhinos from Extinction with IVF

ol pejeta, kenya - Kenya is taking steps to save the endangered northern white rhinos through in vitro fertilization techniques, as Najin and Fatu are the last remaining ones of their kind.

It is cloudy above the savannah of the Ol Pejeta Nature Park in Kenya. Here, the last two northern white rhinos reside, a subspecies of the southern white rhino which is more common. 36-year-old Najin and her 24-year-old daughter Fatu are now the icons of their kind. Unaware of the looming threat of extinction, they eagerly munch on carrots, tossed by the keepers. They have a fenced grazing area of three hundred hectares and are protected 24 hours a day by armed rangers against poachers targeting their horns, which are more valuable than gold at a black market price of 30,000 euros per kilo.

In the early 20th century, thousands of Najins and Fatus roamed these plains, but due to poaching, the two no longer have to share the space with anyone.

As the ladies do not have eternal life, President Ruto of Kenya has stepped in for them. "These animals are the pride of our nation," Ruto spoke at Ol Pejeta at the end of November." We will do everything to save them."

The reason Kenya still has northern white rhinos is due to the Dvůr Králové safari park in the Czech Republic, which in 2009 moved the bulls Suni and Sudan, and Najin and Fatu to Ol Pejeta in the hope that they would reproduce there. Despite the tireless efforts of the bulls, the ladies just wouldn't get pregnant. Suni passed away in 2014 and never became a father. Sudan remained as the flagbearer of his kind, offering one last chance for baby rhinos.

But it was then established that both Najin and Fatu are infertile. With the tragic death of Sudan in 2018 due to an infection in his right hind leg, it seemed game over for the northern white rhino.

Ol Pejeta sensed the impending doom and already in 2018, in collaboration with Dvůr Králové, the German BioRescue, and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), started a rescue program. A glimmer of hope was the discovery that Najin and Fatu carried healthy eggs in their ovaries, which could possibly be fertilized with frozen northern white rhino sperm that Dvůr Králové has in stock. "The challenge now was to bring these two together for embryos," says Steven Seet of BioRescue. "We developed the technology for that ourselves."

In October 2019, BioRescue succeeded in harvesting eggs from Najin and Fatu by inserting a catheter through the anus that pierces the intestinal wall and reaches the ovaries to collect eggs. This venture requires the rhinos to be under anesthesia for two hours, a stressful operation for the doctors as it involves the last two animals of a kind. "We kept track of the heart rate, breathing, and oxygen in the blood," says Dominic Mijele of KWS. "We were ready to intervene at any moment."

Fertilizing the eggs proved to be so successful that 34 embryos were created from the northern white rhinos. "We recently managed to implant an embryo into the uterus of a southern white rhino and we have a viable fetus," says Seet from BioRescue. This process is similar to in vitro fertilization in humans. Seet does not know the success rate in rhinos as it has never been done before. "We do know that the success rate in humans is 20 percent."

The team must be patient as rhino pregnancies last sixty weeks. Scientists are hopeful that a rhino calf will be born.

However, the whole process comes at a cost. Ol Pejeta does not disclose how much the rescue operation costs, but it is evident that it involves significant funding, all to save a single species. "It's not just about the northern white rhino," says Samuel Mutisya, responsible for the program at Ol Pejeta. "They are part of an ecosystem, and if they disappear, it endangers the food chain for more species."

Mutisya points out that many species have already gone extinct. "If enough species disappear, eventually the food situation of humans will be at risk." Seet adds that the techniques can be applied elsewhere: "We can save other species from extinction."

And the team is serious because one day when Najin and Fatu pass away and they are laid to rest next to Sudan's grave, there will be nothing left of the northern white rhino but their tombstones in Ol Pejeta, where the savannah breeze carries the memory of the majestic animals across the empty plain.