Male Northern White Rhino Extinct, Only Two Females Left

As climate change, urbanization, poaching, and pollution keep claiming wildlife, we are seeing several different species being lost to total extinction. Among them, the northern white rhino finds itself near the end of the rope. With the male northern white rhino extinct, there are little to no chances left to save the species from disappearing forever. However, there is a faint glimmer of hope thanks to advancements in fertilization and gestation technology. Time is of the essence to act, though, and we need your help.

Male Northern White Rhino Extinct

For a long time, the northern white rhino has been hunted down and poached due to the market value of their horns. The reasons behind this high demand are many, most of them misguided. The horns have been thought across Africa, Asia, and Europe to hold curative properties, particularly against cancer, as well as aphrodisiac qualities. However, neither one of these attributes has been confirmed. In general, it is often used as a mere signifier of wealth across cultures, leading to the rapid reduction of their populations. As of today, there are no more northern white rhinos left in the wild, with only two remaining in captivity. There is one problem, though, and that is that these are both female rhinos.

Current State of the Species

The only two remaining northern white rhinos are Najin, born in captivity in 1989, and her daughter Fatu, born in 2000. They were both born in the Dv?r Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. They were transferred to the Ol Pejeeta Conservancy in Kenya in 2009, where they remain to this day. The two of them were sent there, along with two male northern white rhinos, in the hopes that their natural environment would encourage reproduction among them. However, the two male rhinos died from natural causes, one in 2014 and the other in 2018, eliminating any chances of the species reproducing naturally.

Reverse the Northern White Rhino Extinction

As dire as things might look for the northern white rhino with the male northern white rhino extinct, but technology might be able to prevent total extinction. Previous efforts to inseminate the two remaining female northern white rhinos have been unsuccessful due to both of them being sterile. However, thanks to developments in artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, the same technology that has allowed for sterile human women to carry babies through a surrogate mother, it is possible to battle the extinction of the species. Not only that, but the process could eventually give way to saving several other species from total extinction. But we must act quickly.

Help the Northern White Rhino

Current estimates are at four million dollars for this in vitro gestation process for the northern white rhinos. With the male northern white rhino extinct, this might be the only chance left to save the species and procure pure rhino calves descendants from the two remaining ones. Through our website, you yourself can donate what you can to help this process and prevent their total extinction. We need all the help we can get, so every little bit counts.