Virus stalls work to save the northern white rhino
Efforts to create a very special baby are definitely on hold. Groundbreaking work to keep alive the nearly extinct northern white rhino subspecies — population, two — by in-vitro fertilisation has been stalled by travel restrictions. And time is running out. The two northern white rhinos are female. “It has been disrupted by Covid-19, like everything else,” said Richard Vigne, managing director of Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, home of the two remaining rhinos. “That is, the process of collecting more eggs from the females as well as the process of developing the technique to introduce the northern white rhino embryo into the southern white rhino females.” For those involved in the effort, acutely aware of time, the delay can be painful.
The procedure to create viable embryos has proven to be safe, they say, and can be performed regularly before the animals become too old.