Dr Janine Barkas, Veterinarian at NPO Rhino Force, recently delivered a compelling talk on assisted rhino reproduction at the monthly Nature on Tap event held at The Thirsty Giraffe in Limpopo.

Barkas highlighted the critical threat of the black rhino and the functional extinction of the northern white rhino, with only two females remaining.

“There is no way for them to reproduce; only assisted reproduction can save them, even if it may already be too late,” she said. “With assisted reproduction, a northern white rhino embryo is transferred to a southern white rhino, resulting in a northern white rhino.”

She explained the process, explaining that the sperm is extracted from the male and either frozen or used immediately for artificial insemination.

“You can go further and collect eggs from the female, create an embryo and insert it into another female rhino. You get a calf that is unrelated to the surrogate mother,” she added.

This method, according to Barkas, preserves the animals’ genetics and allows the introduction of genes or embryos into isolated or fragmented wild populations without physically moving the animals.

“When you translocate an animal, you are limited to that animal and all the factors that can affect it. Many do not adapt well to new environments and unfamiliar plants,” she noted.

Barkas also mentioned that they found it more efficient to create and freeze embryos rather than eggs, because the latter don’t freeze well.

“A genetic reservoir is created that can be maintained indefinitely in liquid nitrogen,” she said.

She recognized several challenges in this process, including time constraints, environmental factors, the need for animals to remain lying down, limited wildlife data, and immobilization protocols.

Despite these obstacles, the potential benefits of preserving endangered rhino species make these efforts crucial, Barkas concluded.