Virus stalls work to keep alive a rare rhino subspecies

It’s t quite a case of coitus interruptus, but efforts to create a very special baby are definitely on hold. Blame pandemic. Groundbreaking work to keep alive nearly extinct rrn white rhi subspecies — population, two — by in-vitro fertilization has been stalled by travel restrictions. And time is running out.

two rrn white rhis are female. goal is to create viable embryos in a lab by inseminating ir eggs with frozen sperm from de males, n transfer m into a surrogate mor, a more common sourn white rhi.

As of January, three embryos h been created and stored in liquid nitrogen. But furr key steps w have to wait.

“It has been disrupted by COVID-19, like everything else,” said Richard Vigne, managing director of Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, home of two remaining rhis. “That is, process of collecting more eggs from females as well as process of developing technique to introduce rrn white rhi embryo into sourn white rhi females.”

It’s an international effort that includes conservationists from Kenya, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy — many affected by closed borders or restricted travel.

For those involved in effort, acutely aware of time, delay can be painful. procedure to create viable embryos has proven to be safe, y say, and can be performed regularly before animals become too old.

In January, transfer of embryos to surrogates h been planned for coming months. In March, plan h been to collect ar round of eggs from two remaining females.

Because those eggs are limited, scientists are working with embryos from sourn white rhis until y can establish a successful pregnancy. Seven or eight transfers so far have failed to take hold. A receptive female is needed, along with kwledge of exactly when she ovulates.

“We kw time is working against us,” said Cesare Galli, an in-vitro fertilization expert based in Italy. “ females will and we don’t have many to choose from.”

He hopes restrictions on international travel will loosen in coming weeks so key steps can resume in August. “ problem is quite serious,” he said. “Certainly as soon as international travel is resumed, it will be first priority to go” to Kenya and collect more eggs from two females.

Even when travel can resume, ar problem looms. Ol Pejeta Conservancy also is home to primates — n-human primates — which are susceptible to coronavirus, Galli said.

“If you bring in virus accidentally, it’s an ditional risk,” he said. “You threaten one species to save ar.”

So for w, two rrn white rhis wait. Fatu and her mor, Najin, roam and graze within sight of rangers in company of one intended surrogate mor, a sourn white rhi named Tewa.

One of rhis’ keepers, Zachariah Mutai, was sympatic.

“y won’t have a chance anymore to have babies in a natural way, but only hope is to save m with scientific way,” he said.

ultimate goal is to create a herd of at least five animals that could be returned to ir natural habitat in Africa. That could take deces.

Deces of poaching have taken a heavy toll on rhi species. animals are killed for ir horns, which have long been used as carving material and prized in tritional Chinese medicine for ir supposed healing properties.

last male rrn white rhi was a 45-year-old named Sudan, who gained fame in 2017 when he was listed as “ Most Eligible Bachelor in World” on Tinder dating app as part of a fundraising effort. He was euthanized in 2018 because of -related ills.

This effort to keep rrn white rhi subspecies alive has been a good way to draw world’s attention to issue of extinction, Vigne said.

“ rate of extinction of species on this planet is w fastest that has ever been recorded, much faster than rate disaurs went extinct, and that is as a result of human activity,” he said. “So re comes a time where we have to draw a line … and say more.”