Sh77m sought to save white rhinos

What you need to know:

  • Nola, one of only four known northern white rhinos, died on Sunday at the San Diego Zoo aged 41.

  • The remaining three are in Ol Pejeta and conservationists are pegging the survival of the animals on technology.

  • Due to their advanced age, experts hope to develop IVF techniques needed for a new generation of northern white rhino to be born.

  • An online campaign dubbed ‘Make a rhino, save a species’ has raised more than Sh1.6 million (£10,789) in the last three months from 319 contributors across the world.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia has started an international campaign to raise Sh77 million to save a rare species of rhinos from extinction.

Nola, one of only four known northern white rhinos, died on Sunday at the San Diego Zoo aged 41.

The remaining three are in Ol Pejeta and conservationists are pegging the survival of the animals on technology.

The main attraction is Sudan, the only male northern white rhino left in the world.

IVF TECHNIQUES

Due to their advanced age, experts hope to develop IVF techniques needed for a new generation of northern white rhino to be born.

A committee comprising specialists from the Kenya Wildlife Service, Ol Pejeta, Dvur Kralove Zoo and the ministry of Environment in the Czech Republic and Back to Africa and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy are overseeing this programme.

“There were meetings of veterinary doctors at KWS headquarters last week and I can say there are serious efforts to save the northern white rhino from extinction,” Laikipia KWS boss Richard Chepkwony told the Sunday Nation.

He says it could take 12-36 months of research to develop the techniques required.

However, conservationists say the technology is quite costly.

'MAKE A RHINO, SAVE A SPECIES'

An online campaign dubbed ‘Make a rhino, save a species’ has raised more than Sh1.6 million (£10,789) in the last three months from 319 contributors across the world.

Ol Pejeta chief executive officer Richard Vigne says on the campaign page that the conservancy would not be asking for donations if there was no ray of hope for saving the species.

Ray of hope

Mr Vigne cautions it is by no means a straightforward thing and there is no guarantee for success.

But he believes it could be done in this age considering that “science is capable of so many extraordinary things.”

The committee set up to safeguard the subspecies will reinvest any extra funds into protecting the world’s remaining rhino species whether this initiative succeeds or not.

NOLA'S SURGERY

Nola underwent surgery on November 13 to drain a hip abscess.

However, her health deteriorated a week ago and worsened again over that weekend and it was decided she should be put down.

She had been a popular attraction at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 1989.

The population  of the critically endangered species was devastated by poachers seeking their prized horns, and was declared extinct in the wild in 2008.

San Diego Zoo has recently brought in six southern white rhinos, hoping to use them as surrogate mothers for northern white rhino embryos.

There are about 20,000 southern white rhinos in the world, but studies are still taking place to determine whether the subspecies are genetically similar enough for the surrogacy to work.

Zoo researchers say that, if successful, the programme could see a northern white rhino calf born within 10 to 15 years.

Additional reporting by