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Northern white rhino: New hopes for IVF rescue

A new study raises hopes of saving one of the last animals of its kind. A victim of poaching, the northern white rhino population has been reduced to just two females, which are both unable to breed.

DNA evidence shows the rhino is more closely related than previously thought to its southern white cousin. Creating rhino hybrids using IVF is likely to have a positive outcome, say scientists, although this option is considered a last resort.

The white rhino split into two divided populations living in the north and south of Africa around one million years ago. But an extensive analysis of DNA from living rhinos and museum specimens shows the northern and southern populations mixed and bred at times after this date, perhaps as recently as 14,000 years ago.

[...] In July, one team took eggs from female southern rhinos - which number around 20,000 in the wild - and fertilised them with frozen sperm from a male northern white rhino, to create hybrid embryos.

The new study suggests this sort of approach might pay off, given that the two rhinos are closer genetically than once thought. "We think it improves the chances," said Prof Bruford. "It is difficult to predict what might happen if we cross the two subspecies but given the current options for the northern white rhino it becomes a more viable option, should other approaches fail."

Other options include using frozen tissue from a wider pool of northern white rhinos to generate stem cells that have the capacity to develop into eggs and sperm. This would avoid diluting the gene pool, but is more challenging to achieve.

Previously: Saving the Northern White Rhinoceros with Science
Last Male Northern White Rhino 'Sudan' Falls Ill as Species Edges Closer to Extinction
Last Male Northern White Rhino Dies
Genetic Intervention Could Save the Northern White Rhino From Extinction

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