RapportFondation 2025 V02 EN light - Flipbook - Page 55
2024 REPORT
© BioRescue Project – Ol Pejeta
© BioRescue Project – Jan Zwilling
AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME:
DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE METHOD
(OOCYTES, SPERM AND SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO
EMBRYOS).
COLLECTION OF OOCYTES AND SPERM FROM
SOUTHERN WHITE RHINOS IN WILDLIFE PARKS.
IN VITRO FERTILISATION AND PRODUCTION OF
SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO EMBRYOS.
TRANSFER OF THE EMBRYO INTO A SURROGATE
SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO IN KENYA.
BIRTH OF NORTHERN WHITE RHINO (OOCYTES, SPERM
AND NORTHERN WHITE RHINO EMBRYOS).
COLLECTION OF OOCYTES FROM THE LAST TWO
FEMALE NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS.
IN VITRO FERTILISATION (WITH FROZEN SPERM FROM
NOW-DECEASED MALE NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS)
AND PRODUCTION OF NORTHERN WHITE RHINO
EMBRYOS.
TRANSFER OF THE EMBRYO INTO A SURROGATE
SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO IN KENYA.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE NORTHERN WHITE RHINO
INFANTS WITH THEIR SURROGATE MOTHER AND THE
REMAINING FEMALE NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS.
RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROJECT:
ON 24 SEPTEMBER 2023, AT THE OL PEJETA CONSERVANCY (A NATURE RESERVE IN KENYA),
TWO EMBRYOS WERE IMPLANTED IN CURRA, THE SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO CHOSEN AS THE
SURROGATE MOTHER. SADLY, TWO MONTHS AFTER THE TRANSFER, SHE WAS FOUND DEAD
IN THE NATURE RESERVE, THE VICTIM OF A DEADLY BACTERIUM PRESENT IN THE NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, A POST-MORTEM REVEALED THAT SHE WAS CARRYING A 70-DAY-OLD
MALE FOETUS. THE SUCCESS OF THE EMBRYO TRANSFER MEANS THAT WE CAN NOW PROCEED
SAFELY TO THE NEXT STAGE: THE TRANSFER OF NORTHERN WHITE RHINO EMBRYOS.
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