Northern White Rhinos

Fatu the Northern White Rhino

The Northern White Rhinos (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is a subspecies of white rhino that used to be found throughout Central Africa. Over the past couple of decades, their numbers have exponentially dropped and there are unfortunately only 2 left in the whole world. 

Unfortunately, both of the remaining Northern White Rhinos, Najin and Fatu, are female and they reside at Ol'Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Najin was born in captivity in 1989 and is the mother of Fatu who was in captivity in 2000. They were both relocated, along with several males who have since died, to Ol'Pejeta in 2009.  Sadly, both of these females are unable to have a successful birth, Najin is unable to due to her age, and Fatu due to health-related complications. 

The last male, Sudan, unfortunately passed away, due to old age (45 years old), on 19 March 2018. Sudan was the father of Najin and the father of another rhino named Nabire. 

So with this knowledge, I am sure that you are wondering what the future of the species looks like and don't worry quite yet, as there is still a little bit of hope. 

Over the years, whilst there were still a few more individuals alive, scientists harvested sperm from the male northern white rhinos, as well as stem cells from male and female northern white rhinos. These specimens were then frozen whilst technology improved. In the past couple of years, scientists from BioRescue have been able to use breaking-edge IVF technology to be able to create 30 viable embryos which are currently frozen in a lab in Italy. Unfortunately, due to further health factors, despite multiple attempts, none of Najins harvested eggs were able to be used to make a viable embryo. Due to this, and increasing health concerns, she was retired from this part of the program. She is however playing a vital role in helping to develop the stem cell technology and methods that scientists hope could potentially increase the gene pool of future offspring at a later stage. 

Scientists are now looking at potential southern white rhino surrogate mothers. This is possible due to the close genetic links between the two subspecies, but this will not change the genetic make-up of the embryo allowing for a pure northern white rhino to be born. Scientists are currently in the waiting stage and hopefully in the near future an embryo will be implanted into a surrogate mother. 

With all of the facts and concerns out of the way, I would really like to share my journey of how this species has affected my life, and I hope that after having read this, this species will have a similar impact on yours.  

On 19 March  2018, I was sitting on the couch in my living room scrolling through Google News on my tablet when I saw the tragic news that Sudan had passed away. It was at that point that I started researching the species and started advocating for their future.

During the pandemic, I decided I wanted to do something to help raise funds and awareness for the species. Near the end of 2020, I decided that I would make educational fundraising videos on my YouTube channel as well as cycle 1200 kilometres in 2021 to raise funds for the species. I reached out to Dylan Habil, who is the head of Videography and video content creation at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. He was very supportive and provided me with some wonderful archives of the northern whites to help me realise my vision. Throughout 2021, despite facing many obstacles and challenges, including having my bicycle stolen, I persevered and was successful in meeting my target, as well as raising over R7500 and creating awareness about the Northern White to over 50,000 people through my online video campaign.