A Population Of Animal Reduced To 3 In The Whole World, But Wait, There Is Hope

By Okechukwu Okugo

What hope can there be for a specie of animal whose population previously numbered in thousands and now only 3, with all the 3 remaining animals too old to reproduce?

This northern white rhino which had roamed across Chad, parts of Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and parts of Sudan, by 1960 were up to 2000 but reducing drastically to 15 in number by 1984.

The major causes of the brutish cut down in number being aggressive poaching because of the high demand of their horns in traditional Asian medicines and their gradual habitat loss.

But today, the world's only three remaining northern white rhinos are two female and one male - all weakened by old age and poor health.

The last of this northern white rhino which had made the number previously 4, just died this November in San Diego Safari Park. When it became very sick, hit by old age and bacterial infection, was euthanized by Officials.

This San Diego Park rhino was captured in the wild in Africa, brought to a Czech zoo from where it was flown to San Diego.

The remaining three rhinos, heavily guarded by armed security personnel against poachers in a preserve in Kenya.

Now the good news of their future survival irrespective of this calamitous odd befalling them is coming from Science.

San Diego officials according to takepart.com are hoping to use in vitro fertilization; where the remaining eggs from the two female northern white rhinos would be taken from them, then fertilized with the frozen and stored sperm of the male northern white rhino.

This would now give rise to a newly formed embryo of the northern white rhino which then would be transferred to the belly of another specie of rhino known as the southern white rhinos.

According to reports, earlier this November, six female southern white rhinos had been shipped to San Diego for this saving project.

Putting mankind's technology to good use is simply ingenious. And truly we need more of this saving technology than bomb technology.  

(Above: photo of the recently dead northern white rhinoceros from takepart.com.)