We often hear about animals that are endangered. This would include rhinos, who have all but disappeared from the wild.
In Kenya, there is a 700-acre enclosure where two rhinos, Najin and Fatu are spending their time. Since they are the last two remaining northern white rhinos on earth, they are being guarded 24 hours a day by armed guards.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a former cattle ranch in Africa that lies between the foothills of the Aberdares and Mount Kenya. They work around the clock to ensure that the residents of the sanctuary are cared for properly.
Some of the different animals that live within the sanctuary include African bush elephants, rescued chimpanzees, and Cape Buffalo. At this time, there are up to 500 bird species and 100 mammals that call the sanctuary home.
Since the last two northern white rhinos also live within the sanctuary, it is a very special place. Interestingly, that breed of rhino is not native to Kenya but used to roam the country in northern and central Africa.
A number of issues may have led to the decline in numbers of this species of rhinoceros, but it is thought to primarily be from uncontrolled hunting. The horn was considered a prize, and hunting continued until there were only about 15 rhinos left in the wild in the 1980s.
The mother and daughter who live at the sanctuary are the only two northern white rhinos alive. Since they are both female, they aren’t able to reproduce naturally.
They came to the sanctuary in 2009 from a zoo. There were also two male rhinos, Suni and Sudan that lived in the sanctuary as well. In total, there were seven alive when they arrived at the sanctuary.
Since there are only two left alive, they are on the critically endangered species list and are under 24-hour armed surveillance in the 700 acre enclosure. Unfortunately, the two males died at other institutions, despite being cared for.
After the males died, some southern white rhino females joined them to keep them company. The head keeper for the sanctuary, Zachary said: “I feel so grateful that I get to look after the last two of their kind.
“But at the same time, it’s a huge weight on my shoulders because they need so much special care, and the whole world is watching.”
Unfortunately, since there are only two females left, the species will eventually become extinct. That is, unless they are able to use modern medicine to create some ‘test tube rhinos.’
They have been testing this in the past, and there is hope that it may bring them back from the brink of extinction.
The BioRescue project is responsible for creating the test tube rhinos, and for successfully implanting them in the surrogate mother. At this time, they experimented with a southern white rhino.
Suzanne Holtze, a scientist at the Institute says they hope to repeat the process with the soon-to-be-extinct rhinos.
“To achieve the first successful embryo transfer in a rhino is a huge step,” Holtze stated. “But now I think with this achievement, we are very confident that we will be able to create northern white rhinos in the same manner and that we will be able to save the species.”
Unfortunately, the two females are older and have health problems that would keep them from carrying out the pregnancy. As a result, the embryo would have to be implanted into a surrogate southern white rhino.
Let’s hope that it works.
