A Magnificent White Rhino (Photo source: Public Domain Pictures)
Who is responsible for driving the white rhino to extinction?
The greed of man has caused this. Relentlessly hunting white rhinos for their horns has meant there are only three left in the world. One is a male called Sudan. The other two are females called Najin and Fatu. They live together in Kenya in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy where they are protected 24/7 by armed guards.
Sudan, the Last Male White Rhino (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)
Sudan, is 42 years old now. Rhinos usually live to a maximum of 40 years of age so at 42, Sudan is not likely to mate with either of the females. His sperm count is dwindling and his back legs are weak now.
There are also problems with the females who are mother and daughter. Najin is too old to bear a calf and Fatu has a problem in her uterus.
Najin and Fatu (Photo source: WeForWildlife)
There is now just one grain of hope for this magnificent species. Where man has nearly wiped the white rhinos out, man is now trying to save them by using artificial methods.
A multi-national group of specialist scientists are going to try to remove any eggs that Najin and Fatu still have left inside them. These eggs will then be fertilised using stem cell technology that can make sperm. Hopefully this will result in some embryos that can be implanted into surrogate mothers from a similar rhino species. The scientists hope to do this in October.
We could see white rhino calves once again.
Mother and Baby White Rhinos (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)
Follow this link to donate: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/rhinoceros/african_rhinos/white_rhinoceros/
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