Just two northern white rhinos remain. The species’ first IVF pregnancy could save them from extinction

Staff at the Kenya Wildlife Service with the rhino foetus at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, the result of the first successful implant in a white rhino. Photograph: Ami Vitale

The critically endangered northern white rhino could be saved from the brink of extinction after scientists performed the first successful embryo transfer in white rhinos.

After the last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in 2018, the disappearance of the species looked imminent. Just two infertile female northern white rhinos – Fatu and Najin – remain, and are under 24-hour armed protection at a conservation reservation in Kenya. But a new scientific advancement means the mother and daughter may not be the last of their kind.