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(CNN) - Scientists have successfully created two embryos of the northern white rhinoceros, a crucial point in the race to save the majestic animal that is in danger of extinction.
The last two white rhinos from the north that remain worldwide, Fatu and Najin, are female and live at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The last male, Sudan, died last year, which increases the fear that the subspecies is on the verge of extinction, especially because the two females could not carry a pregnancy to term.
In a new ray of hope, the scientists announced Wednesday that they successfully fertilized the in vitro embryos collected from the remaining two white rhinos from the north.
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Scientists collect ovules from the ovaries of one of the female rhinos.
The embryos were created with ovules extracted from Fatu and Najin by international scientists last month and frozen sperm from dead males. Two embryos were viable and are now stored in liquid nitrogen, waiting to be transferred to a surrogate mother in the near future, Ol Pejeta Conservancy said in a statement.
Embryos are only part of a long journey to stop the rapid extinction of the northern white rhinoceros.
Najin and Fatu cannot carry a pregnancy on their own, so the embryos will probably be transferred to a southern white rhino female that would act as a substitute.
"Five years ago it seemed that the production of a northern white rhino embryo was (an) almost unattainable goal, and today we have them," said Jan Stejskal of the Dvůr Králové zoo, where Najin and Fatu were born.
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Najin (left) and Fatu are the last two white rhinos in the north of the planet.
The process takes years in development
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy acquired the northern white rhinos, two males and two females, in 2009 from a zoo in the Czech Republic. Both northern white rhinos died, leaving the fate of the subspecies in female rhinos.
Sudan died of natural causes in March of last year and the other male died in 2014. The sperm of both men froze cryogenically in the hope that technology would advance enough to use it in reproduction.
Years later, it happened. The collected ovules were transported by air from Kenya to Italy, where scientists from the Avantea laboratory fertilized the ovules in vitro with the sperm of the deceased males.
A race against time
Rhinos are targeted by poachers, fueled by the belief in Asia that their horns cure various ailments. Experts say that rhino horn is becoming more lucrative than drugs.
With only two remaining worldwide, there is a race against time to try to keep the northern white rhinoceros.
The western black rhinoceros was declared extinct years ago as a result of poaching. The five remaining rhinoceros species worldwide are considered threatened, according to the Save the Rhino conservation group.
- Christina Zdanowicz of CNN contributed to this report.
White Rhinoceros
