First Successful Rhino IVF Pregnancy Paves Way for Saving Northern White Rhino

BioRescue project's breakthrough could restore critically endangered species, despite challenges and need for further scientific advancements.

Scientists have achieved the first successful rhinoceros pregnancy through in vitro fertilization (IVF), a technique that could be key to saving the northern white rhino, a critically endangered subspecies with only two living individuals.
The procedure was conducted with a southern white rhino, a closely related subspecies, by transferring a lab-made rhino embryo into a surrogate mother in Kenya.
Although the surrogate mother died seventy days into her term due to an unrelated bacterial infection, the pregnancy has opened the door for the northern white rhino’s restoration.
The BioRescue project, which conducted the procedure, plans to use IVF to create a lab-grown northern white rhino embryo and implant it into a southern white rhino, which will carry the fetus and help repopulate the critically endangered species.
The long-term success of the project will hinge on a series of breakthroughs, including the creation of more rhino sperm and eggs from stem cells, which could in turn produce additional embryos.