Kenya plans IVF to save rare White Rhinos nearing extinction
Kenya plans to use assisted reproduction techniques to save the northern white rhino — a species that has only two females remaining worldwide — from the brink of extinction.
It will involve developing embryos in a laboratory and using so-called stem-cell-associated techniques with ancient material to help reproduce the rare mammals, Kenya Wildlife Service said in a notice on its website.
“If deliberate action is not undertaken to facilitate the recovery efforts, the species will become extinct in the very near future,” according to the authority that’s calling for public comments on the planned procedures.
Tourism is Kenya’s biggest source of foreign exchange behind diaspora remittances and farm exports. Local authorities will undertake the project with BioRescue, an international group led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.
With no male to support natural breeding, scientists have to use assisted reproduction techniques. The females are 24 and 34 years old, with the average life expectancy of rhinos in the wild estimated to be in a range of 35 to 40 years, the wildlife service said.
Poaching has decimated the global rhino population, with China and Vietnam among nations fuelling demand for the animals’ horns due to the belief that they cure diseases including cancer and even ease a hangover.
Scientists have produced pure northern white embryos that they hope surrogates from other species will carry to birth and help save the critically endangered species.
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