BT has reported that three northern white rhinos remain under armed guard in Kenya. They are too old to reproduce naturally, so Longleat Safari Park’s scientists and fertility experts have decided to take matters into their own hands by attempting a world first IVF treatment to save the rhino species, which is in fact endangered.
The scientists have extracted eggs from three southern white rhinos that are currently living at Longleat to make the first test-tube rhinos. The eggs have been transferred to a lab in Italy to mature before they are fertilized with the male southern white rhino sperm before attempting the process on the rarer, endangered northern white rhinos.
If everything goes according to plan, the northern white rhino sperm and eggs will be harvested from the remaining rhinos. And if the IVF treatment is not successful for the northern white rhino, the scientists will try to create hybrid animals from the sperm and eggs of the two rhino species.
Read more here.
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