Berlin / Nairobi (dpa) - Because of the corona crisis, researchers have had to temporarily suspend their work to save the northern white rhinoceros. "It has all been put on hold," said Steven Seet, spokesman for the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), the German Press Agency.
Accordingly, the scientists should have traveled to Kenya for important further work in April, but this was not possible due to the corona restrictions in Germany and in the East African country. One hopes to be able to travel in August or October.
Scientists from the IZW as well as from the USA, Japan and Italy are trying to use artificial insemination to save the subspecies of the Northern white rhinoceros from extinction. Thousands of animals once lived in Africa, but they were mainly exterminated by poaching. Now there are only two animals left in the world: two females that are guarded around the clock in the Kenyan game reserve Ol Pejeta. You cannot carry boys. The last male Sudan died in 2018.
So far, the researchers have been able to remove egg cells from the two females and fertilize some of them with previously frozen sperm from bulls. Now they want to use the fertilized embryos in surrogate mothers - related southern white rhinos - so that a young northern white rhinoceros is born. Since this is a complicated procedure, the researchers first test it with eggs from southern white rhinos. In Kenya, they wanted to try this with animals in the wild, as Seet explained.
The delays caused by the Corona crisis are worrying those involved. "This is a financial step back for us," said Seet, as the research is now protracted. Ol Pejeta is also struggling with the aftermath of the Covid pandemic: According to its own information, around 70 percent of the reserve's revenue comes from tourism, which has now plummeted. But all costs - including protecting the world's last two northern white rhinos - still need to be covered.