2024-01-24 15:11:30
On September 24, in the Kenyan Ol Pejeta Conservancy nature reserve, BioRescue scientists implanted two embryos into Curra, a southern white rhino selected as a surrogate mother. The eggs used to produce the embryo had been collected from a living specimen in Pairi Daiza. The scientific director of the Pairi Daiza Foundation and the head veterinarian of the Hennuyer animal park were also present.
The aim was to test the technique on southern white rhinos and validate the protocol, before applying it to the remaining northern white rhinos.
Two months following implantation, rhino Curra was found dead, having succumbed to deadly bacteria. However, the mammal’s autopsy revealed that she was carrying a 70-day-old male fetus measuring 6.4 centimeters long, reports the Pairi Daiza Foundation. DNA analyzes have just confirmed that this pregnancy was indeed the result of the embryo transfer carried out in September.
The scientists thus obtain proof that their protocol, created specifically to fertilize these animals weighing two tonnes, works.
The next step: transferring an embryo into a northern white rhino. “A dream that might become reality within two to three years,” hopes the Pairi Daiza Foundation.
Since 2019, BioRescue has produced and cryopreserved 29 northern white rhino embryos, she adds.
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