Later this year scientists will attempt the first artificial insemination of either Najin or Fatu at Dvur. "Even if that works, it will still only be a start," said Hermes. As he pointed out, rhinos produce a single calf every two years at best, which greatly limits numbers that these two females might produce.
Scientists have a couple of other tricks up their sleeves, however. The first exploits the similarity between the southern and northern white. Researchers are learning how to remove eggs from ageing rhinos, allowing them to build up stocks of northern white eggs, which could then be fertilized. The resulting embryos could be implanted in southern whites, which would act as surrogate mothers for the species.
Scientists are also planning to use separation techniques to split female-producing sperm from the male-producing version. "That way we can ensure we produce only female northern calves. From those we can breed even more northern whites. In the end, we might just save the northern white rhino," said Hermes.
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