Fatu is one of two remaining northern white rhinos, both female, who live on a nature reserve in Kenya. The two remaining female northern white rhinos, who are infertile, were doomed to live out their lives as the last of their kind.Įxcept maybe they won’t be the last. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN): The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Ceratotherium simum ssp.When Sudan, the last surviving male northern white rhino in the world, died in Kenya in March 2018, the species was as good as extinct.International Rhino Foundation: White Rhino.African Wildlife Foundation: Rhinoceros.Harley et al., Comparison of whole mitochondrial genome sequences of northern and southern white rhinoceroses ( Ceratotherium simum): The conservation consequences of species definitions, Conserv. Gross, Last call to save the rhinos, Curr. Callaway, Stem-cell plan aims to bring rhino back from brink of extinction, Nature, 533(7601):20–21, 2016 DOI: See also: Conservation (species) De-extinction Genetics Reproductive technology Related Primary LiteratureĮ. However, this remains a very remote possibility. If procedures of this type are attempted and if successful, this could lead to an eventual resurrection of the subspecies. For example, scientists could implant an embryo that has been created in the laboratory from the genetic materials of a Northern white rhino into a surrogate female Southern white rhino. See also: Mammalia Prevention of rhino poachingĪlthough discouraged by the news of the death of the last male member of the Northern white rhino, conservationists and reproductive specialists have collected and saved genetic materials (including sperm and eggs) from a number of Northern white rhinos, providing a possible future means to preserve the subspecies. Despite evidence to the contrary, the poaching of all rhino species continues, endangering this land mammal as a whole. Traditionally, the horn is a prized item in many countries of Asia and has been deemed to have potent medicinal value however, scientific research has proven this claim to be unfounded. This illegal action is undertaken primarily to procure the animal's horns (of which there are two per individual). The main culprit for the decimation of the Northern white rhino is poaching conducted by humans. The other species is the white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum), which is divided taxonomically into two subspecies-the Northern white rhino ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni) and the Southern white rhino ( Ceratotherium simum simum this latter subspecies comprises approximately 20,000 individuals, although it is still listed as critically endangered). One species is the black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis), comprising four or five extant subspecies.
Two species of rhinoceros inhabit Africa. The Northern white rhino, like all rhinos, is an odd-toed ungulate belonging to the family Rhinocerotidae in the order Perissodactyla.
The last remaining male member of the Northern white rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni) subspecies has died, leaving the subspecies on the brink of imminent extinction.
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