The Northern white rhino became ‘functionally extinct’ on November 19, 2018, because there were only two Northern white rhinos in the world, both females. The Northern white rhino is slightly smaller, less hairy, and has longer limbs than its Southern cousin. In fact, a 2010 study seemed to indicate there was enough of a difference to declare the two subspecies their own independent species. More testing in 2015, suggested that the “subspecies’ label was more appropriate as the two subspecies branched off from one another 500,000 - 900,000 years ago. Like all five species of rhino living today, Northern white rhino populations were decimated by the rhino horn trade. In the 1970’s & 1980’s, the Northern white rhino population plummeted from 500 to 15. By 2003, the population had risen to 32 individuals. During this time, poaching increased and the numbers fell. The last wild population of Northern white rhinos was in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By June of 2008, the Northern white rhino was declared extinct in the wild. Why are people killing rhinos for their horns? Rhino horn has been used for thousands of years and is still used in traditional Chinese medicines today. Rhino horn powder is believed to reduce fever, stop food poisoning, cure snake bites, and cure demon possession. Although killing rhinos is illegal, poachers will risk getting caught for the $50,000 a pound payout. To prevent poaching, scientists sedate rhinos and saw off their horns. The downside of this strategy is rhinos cannot protect their young from predators. Being made of keratin, the same substance as our fingernails, the horns also grow back. Some governments have hired armed guards to watch over the rhinos. This is the case with the two remaining Northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, that are living at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. They are guarded with machine guns 24/7 and brought into a smaller enclosure at night. (The picture at the bottom of this post shows a guard watching over Fatu) Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The Northern white rhino is still alive, so DNA is being carefully collected. The collection of DNA began in 2014 with Nabire, a female Northern white rhino at Dvůr Králové Zoo. She died in 2015, but several eggs were collected. Scientists were able to use Nabire’s eggs and semen collected from other deceased males to prove that a healthy embryo could be created in a lab. Unfortunately for those embryos, the scientists at the lab in Italy used DNA from a male Southern white rhino by accident. Nevertheless, it was proven that creating embryos in a lab could be done. Genetic material, eggs, continue to be collected from Najin and Fatu who are unable to carry a pregnancy. Scientists are working on techniques used to create embryos from the frozen sperm and eggs they have collected. This means that even if Najin and Fatu pass away, their offspring could still be created and placed into the closely related Southern white rhino that could carry the baby the necessary 16 months. Once that has been done, a small breeding population of Northern white rhinos could be established. If the Northern white rhino population was able to be established, could it be sustained over the pressures of poaching?