37 minutes ago
By Rebecca Morelle, Science Editor, @BBCMorelle • Alison Francis, BBC News Science
Collecting eggs from a two tonne rhino is far from easy – but the procedure is being carried out in zoos across Europe in a bid to help the wild population.
The hope is that cutting-edge fertility technology could boost the genetic diversity of southern white rhinos in Africa.
The species was almost extinct, plummeting to a few dozen rhinos – so the animals are all descended from this tiny group.
Scientists believe rhinos in zoos, which have more genetic diversity because they are carefully cross bred, could widen the gene pool with the help of IVF.
It’s technology that has seen a recent breakthrough: in January, researchers announced that they had achieved the world’s first rhino IVF pregnancy.
One of the animals taking part in the southern white zoo project is 22-year-old Zanta from Dublin Zoo in Ireland.
“Zanta has wonderful genetics that are worth preserving, but we know from a previous reproductive assessment that she can’t breed,” says Frank O’Sullivan, a vet at the zoo.
“The main reason we want to do the procedure is to bypass that, harvest her eggs and then they’ll be fertilised. The great thing is Zanta will be represented in future generations of rhinos.”
A team of fertility specialists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany has flown to Ireland to carry out the procedure.
Zanta is anaesthetized with a dart, then once she’s fully
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