World's first IVF rhino pregnancy 'could save species' - BBC News

A fertility breakthrough offers hope for saving the northern white rhino from extinction.

3 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Jan ZwillingImage caption, Najin and Fatu are the world's last northern white rhinosBy Rebecca Morelle and Alison Francis BBC News Science A fertility breakthrough has offered hope for saving the northern white rhino from extinction - there are only two of the animals left on the planet.

Scientists have achieved the world's first IVF rhino pregnancy, successfully transferring a lab-created rhino embryo into a surrogate mother.

The procedure was carried out with southern white rhinos, a closely related sub-species of northern whites.

The next step is to repeat this with northern white embryos.

"To achieve the first successful embryo transfer in a rhino is a huge step," said Susanne Holtze, a scientist at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany, which is part of the Biorescue project, an international consortium trying to save this species.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68064432?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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