RapportFondation_2026_V03 Pages LIGHT EN - Flipbook - Page 59
2025 REPORT
© BioRescue Project – Kevin Kipruto
© BioRescue Project – Rio Willing
© 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 VITRO FERTILISATION AND PRODUCTION OF
SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO EMBRYOS
EMBRYO TRANSFER INTO A SOUTHERN WHITE
RHINO SURROGATE MOTHER 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 (USING FROZEN SPERM
FROM DECEASED MALE NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS)
AND PRODUCTION OF NORTHERN WHITE RHINO
EMBRYOS
EMBRYO TRANSFER INTO A SOUTHERN WHITE RHINO
SURROGATE MOTHER IN KENYA
MONITORING OF THE CALVES ALONGSIDE THEIR
SURROGATE MOTHER AND THE LAST TWO FEMALE
NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS
RECENT PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS:
OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS, 21 OOCYTE RETRIEVAL PROCEDURES HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT IN KENYA
ON NAJIN AND FATU, INCLUDING THREE CARRIED OUT IN 2025. IN TOTAL, 38 NORTHERN WHITE
RHINO EMBRYOS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED.
TO DATE, THREE EMBRYO TRANSFERS HAVE BEEN PERFORMED USING SELECTED FEMALE SOUTHERN
WHITE RHINO SURROGATE MOTHERS, THE FIRST IN JULY 2024 AND THE MOST RECENT IN MAY 2025.
ALTHOUGH NO BIRTH HAS YET TAKEN PLACE, NEW TRANSFER ATTEMPTS USING THE REMAINING
EMBRYOS ARE BEING PREPARED FOR 2026. HOPE THEREFORE REMAINS HIGH FOR THE BIRTH OF THE
FIRST NORTHERN WHITE RHINO IN SEVERAL DECADES.
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