The chromosomes of northern and southern white rhinos apparently do not differ consistently the typical diploid number is 82, but a northern male had 2n = 81 (heterozygous for a Robertsonian translocation) as did his two female offspring. Genetics has become an important criterion in establishing taxonomic identity. The reality of these distinctions needs to be examined. The external phenotypic differences between Northern and Southern forms of White Rhino tentatively raised by Groves have been extended and supplemented by Hillman-Smith and colleagues. Further material and analysis has been published by Guérin –. Detailed information and measurements have been published on a remarkable Early Pleistocene skull KNM-ER 328C this had earlier been reported briefly by Hooijer. The metrical data of Groves, and some collected subsequently, can be re-analysed using sophisticated statistical packages that have become more readily available. In the thirty years since the last taxonomic revision of the White Rhinoceros, genus Ceratotherium, new material and analytical tools have become available, necessitating a reassessment of the taxon. The taxonomic status of the Northern form is central to determining its conservation importance and will be a critical driver of efforts to save it. Urgent and concerted effort is required to stave off its extinction. Teetering on the brink of extinction, its in-situ and ex-situ survival hang by a thread. In contrast, the once tolerably numerous Northern form has been reduced to a tiny remnant (less than 20) in the Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, and a similar number in two zoos. After recovering from a handful of survivors at the turn of the 20 th century, the Southern form escaped relatively unscathed from the large-scale African rhino poaching epidemic of the 1980s. Once a proven pregnancy is achieved the team will use the protocol for transferring cryopreserved NWR embryos to produce viable offspring as soon as possible.As much a cause for celebration the conservation success of the Southern white rhino is, equally shocking and dire is the fate of the Northern white rhino. The next steps of the BioRescue project will be to perform embryo transfers with SWR embryos to demonstrate that the chosen transfer protocol is suitable and works. The bull must be sterilized otherwise it makes no sense to perform an embryo transfer, as the female would become pregnant with the bull's sperm. The teaser bull indicates by copulating with a female that a potential SWR surrogate mother is ready to receive an embryo. The consortium members also checked the health status of the SWR teaser bull Ouwan and confirmed that he is still functionally sterilized. They will now be crucial in supporting the breeding efforts within the BioRescue project for the NWRs. Both females were examined and translocated into a safe enclosure. The consortium members successfully identified and selected two wild southern white rhino females (SWR) as potential surrogate mothers. Previous procedures in November 2022 (eleventh collection) and February 2023 (twelfth collection) had yielded two and zero embryos, respectively.įurthermore, in May 2023 the BioRescue team made another promising step toward saving the most endangered mammal species on our planet. The sperm for fertilization came from two different bulls, thereby improving genetic diversity. They were matured and fertilized at the Avantea lab in Cremona, Italy, leading to five further embryos being produced, the highest number of embryos from any one egg collection so far. The procedure involving female rhino Fatu went smoothly without any complications, and 18 eggs were harvested. During a scientific field trip to Kenya in May 2023, the thirteenth egg collection from a northern white rhinoceros (NWR) was carried out by a team of scientists and conservationists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Safari Park Dvůr Králové, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
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