President William Ruto has announced that the government is committed to genetically preserving the world's two remaining northern white rhinos at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia.
Speaking during the conservancy's 20th anniversary celebration, the president assured that the government, in collaboration with the conservancy, will provide the necessary resources to ensure that the Northern Whites’ genetic lineage will not disappear.
“Those two Rhinos are indeed a pride to our nation and Ol Pejeta we want to congratulate you on behalf of all the people of Kenya for being the outstanding conservation that has chosen to be the home of these two relics of what remains of the Northern rhinos in the world,” he stated.
“And as I told you, the government of Kenya is going to work with you to make sure that we do not lose the genetics of these two rhinos.”
Najin and Fatu are the two remaining Northern whites in the world.
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However, according to experts, neither of the females can hold any kind of pregnancy due to their old age and health-related issues.
Rapid scientific and technological advancements over the past decade have raised hopes for artificially reviving northern white rhino reproduction through the use of technologies like IVF, which use banked sperm from male northern white rhinos before they went extinct.
According to Ken Kimani, the conservancy’s chief commercial officer, the conservancy, in collaboration with partners and scientists from around the world, is still conducting assisted artificial reproduction on the rhinos to generate future offspring from the remaining animals.
