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- Recently on social media, a lot of misinformation has been spreading about the status of the northern white rhino, claiming that the northern white rhino is recently extinct.
- Paired with a photo of a zookeeper compassionately petting a rhino as he takes his last breath, the public had reason to believe this story was true.
- While this subspecies of rhinos are functionally extinct, they actually have already been for years since 2018.
- But with the help of frozen sperm and harvested embryos, a team of scientists is working on a way to possibly save the subspecies.
- Ol Pejeta, the African sanctuary home to the last two female white rhinos, tweeted some clarification in response to the misunderstandings.
- Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, died in captivity in March 2018 at the Ol Pejeta Conservatory in Kenya.
- Sudan was 45 years old and suffered from several age-related health issues and infections.
- After his death, the species was declared functionally extinct, because while there were still two rhinos remaining, they could not reproduce naturally.
- Northern white rhinos, who are the world’s second-largest land animals right after elephants, once roamed the plains of East and Central Africa. Over time, they were severely affected by illegal poaching and habitat loss.
- In 1995, the International Rhino Foundation stepped in and invested millions of dollars to try and save this subspecies from extinction.
- They became involved in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the northern white rhinos called home.
- Even then, the park suffered huge losses when local militia and poachers came through their land, to the point where the International Rhino Foundation had to back out of the park in 2005 due to safety concerns for their staff.
- In 2008, when they sent in rhino trackers, they were unable to confirm the existence of any rhinos left in the park.
- Eight captive animals were all that remained of the once abundant subspecies, and most of them were too old to reproduce.
- With the death of Sudan, the future for the white rhinos was looking bleak. However, in Aug. and Dec. of 2019,BioRescue, a team of international scientists dedicated to saving the northern white rhinos, was able to harvest eggs from Fatu and Najin, the last two northern white rhinos.
- Along with frozen sperm from male northern white rhinos, they were able to make embryos which they are hoping to transfer to younger southern white rhinos via IVF.
- It’s a dangerous and expensive process, but one that scientists believe will be worth it
- BioRescue wants the surrogate mother rhino to live with the two remaining females while the calf is growing up. The lifespan of northern white rhinos is between 30 and 40 years old, and Najin, the eldest of the two, is already 31.
- They need a little baby to learn from Najin and Fatu how to behave as a northern white rhino. So that brings us under quite a lot of time pressure. Scientists were hoping that they can start with the first transplantation attempts at the end of this year
NORTHERN WHITE RHINO FACTS
- The white rhino is the third largest African animal (after the elephant and hippo) and weighs between 1,700 and 2,400 kg
- White rhinos are not actually white, but grey. The confusion results from a misinterpretation of the Dutch word ‘wijde’ (meaning wide, not white), used to describe the rhino’s mouth
- The wide mouth is an adaptation that helps them graze on grass, as opposed to the black rhino’s pointed mouth, which is adapted for browsing on leaves, shoots and branches
- Rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicines and to demonstrate social status
- There is also the black (or hook-lipped) rhinoceros in Africa,which too, is fighting for survival, and at least three of whose subspecies are already extinct.
- It is critically endangeredin the IUCN Red list.
- Although black rhinos are still rated “Critically Endangered” by both the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the IUCN, their population has been steadily rising for several decades.
- From a historic low of 2,500 in the 1990s, black rhinos have bounced back to between 5,000 and 5,500 individuals today, according to the WWF.
- The Indian rhinocerosis different from its African cousins, most prominently in that it has only one horn. It is vulnerable in the IUCN Red list.
- There is also a Javan rhino,which too, has one horn, and a Sumatran rhino which, like the African rhinos, has two horns.
- Both Javan and Sumatran Rhino are critically endangeredin the IUCN Red list.
In vitro Fertilization
- IVF is one of the more widely known types of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).
- In vitro comes from the latin word ‘in glass’, i.e. studies are done in a test tube rather than in a human or animal.
- In vitro means outside the body. Fertilization means the sperm has attached to and entered the egg.
- During IVF, mature eggs are collected (retrieved) from the ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab.
- Then the fertilized egg (embryo) or eggs (embryos) are transferred to a uterus
Q.Consider the following statements:
- The white rhino is the third largest African animal (after the elephant and hippo)
- Sumatra Rhino is smallest of all species
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Both 1 and 2 are correct
(b) 1 Only
(c) 2 only
(d) Both 1 and 2 are incorrect
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