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The discovery of the role of stress hormones in diseases that affect the black rhino in studies that have led to changes in the animals’ housing.Some recent findings and relevant ongoing projects include: Nature reserves have also afforded researchers the opportunity to successfully test-in southern white rhinos-the in-vitro procedure they hope will work just as well for the near-extinct northern species.Īnimal research has improved the health and reproductive outcomes of animals in captivity in ways that could potentially save endangered species from the brink of extinction. “There’s no doubt that if northern white rhinos hadn’t existed in zoos, then the species would now be completely extinct,” conservationist Richard Vigne told CBS News.
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These efforts, coupled with and supported by animal research, are the only way to mitigate the destructive impact human activities have had on species like the northern white rhino.
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Nature sanctuaries, zoos, and aquariums have allowed wildlife biologists to manage threatened and endangered animal species, in many cases creating a safety net against extinction. This has spelled disaster for wild-dwelling populations who also face habitat encroachment and other threats. High demand means high rewards for successful poachers, driving the value of rhino horns beyond their weight in gold or cocaine. And more commonly, especially in recent years, the horns are kept intact for display as symbols of wealth and social status. In many of those countries, the powder is considered an aphrodisiac or hangover cure. In Southeast Asia, rhino horns are ground up for use in traditional medicines. The protein is found in hair, nails, human skin, and cosmetic products (especially shampoos, conditioners, and various other hair treatments). Unlike horns from other mammals, like antelope and bighorn sheep, rhino horns are comprised entirely of keratin. It is for this horn that rhinos are so prized-and therefore so endangered. Larger animals stand just shy of the height of the average American adult man (five feet, ten inches) and can grow horns that measure nearly five feet in length. The average northern white rhino weighs between 3,800 and 5,300 pounds, or somewhere between an average mid-size sedan and a full-size SUV. Now, they hope to harvest eggs from the females, which are housed in a nature reserve, and transfer the embryo to a healthy surrogate from the more common southern white species. In southern and eastern Africa, between 5,000 and 5,500 black rhinos live in a wide range of habitats that occasionally overlap with those inhabited by the southern white-the most populous species, numbering around 20,000.Īs their numbers dwindled and their prospects for survival narrowed, researchers collected northern white rhino semen and stored the samples in liquid nitrogen. Fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos, the smallest species, are scattered across Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, which is also home to an estimated 3,500 greater one-horned rhinos. According to conservationists, only 67 Javan rhinos remain in Indonesia’s tropical Ujung Kulon National Park. Of the six species of rhino, the northern white is by far the most critically endangered, but all face the very real risk of extinction. He leaves behind two females-both unable to reproduce naturally-along with any hope of saving the species without scientific intervention. The last male northern white rhino, named Sudan, died on March 20, 2018.