Saturday, September 21, 2019

Can This Be The Future of White Rhinos?

     With only two white Rhino females left in the world and no males, this new success of two scientists in creating two embryos of the near-extinct northern white rhino can be the future of this species. A research team from Avantea laboratory, Italy, were able to create two embryos using eggs from the only two white rhino females alive and frozen sperm from dead males of the same species. The species decreased is due to the poaching done in Africa, rhinos are hunted for the horns, which are very popular for different uses in Asia.

     While the numbers of rhino poaching have decreased since 2015 from 1,349 recorded cases to 769 recorded cases in 2018, two and a half rhinos are still killed every single day. In Asia, powdered rhino horn is used in traditional medicine, the horn is touted as a cure for hangovers, cancer, and impotence. It is more commonly used as a status symbol to display success and wealth in Asia. Nowadays, poachers are supported by international criminal gangs that supply them with highly developed equipment to track the rhinos. Most of the time, a gun with a tranquilizer is used, causing the rhinos to fall down, they then cut off the horn leaving the rhino to wake up and bleed to death. Since these poachers are supported by very powerful gangs, they are often armed with guns, which makes it very difficult for anti-poaching teams to combat poachers.

     Richard Ellis, author of “Tiger bone and rhino horn” wrote in 2005 for the EAZA Rhino Campaign’s Info Pack: “It is not clear that rhino horn serves any medicinal purpose whatsoever, but it is a testimony to the power of tradition that millions of people believe that it does. Of course, if people want to believe in prayer, acupuncture or voodoo as a cure for what ails them, there is no reason why they shouldn’t, but if animals are being killed to provide nostrums that have been shown to be useless, then there is a very good reason to curtail the use of rhino horn." Rhino horns are made out of keratin, which is the same material that makes up much of our hair and nails. "Truly, rhino horn is as effective at curing cancer as chewing on your fingernails."

     With only two female white rhinos left, the creation of the embryos is something big. The creation of the embryos was achieved at Cremona's Avantea Laboratories. Five immature egg cells were extracted from each of the remaining females, Najin and Fatu, who live at a conservancy in Kenya. After being incubated, seven of the cells matured and were used for fertilization. Two of the fertilized eggs developed into viable embryos. These embryos are stored in liquid nitrogen and ready to be transferred into a surrogate mother, a white southern rhino, according to us.news.com Rhinos are important grazers, consuming large amounts of vegetation, which helps shape the African landscape. Their presence benefits other animals and contributes to a healthy balance within the ecosystem. Many organizations are working to conserve the populations of other rhino species so it does not get to this point, where there are only two rhinos left in a particular species. With the amount of traction and awareness that the issue has garnered, hopefully, it leads to a decrease of poaching of all rhino species.

Posted by " Pamela Jimenez" 


   

9 comments:

  1. I think it is ridiculous that so many species are on the verge of extinction because of traditional Chinese medicine. It is believed that rhino horn can do a variety of things from soothing a stomach ache, all the way up to curing cancer. As to not sound culturally insensitive- I understand that these beliefs are handed down from generations and that their culture should be respected. But rhino horn is just keratin. Keratin is the same thing that our finger nails and hair are made from. It has no medicinal quality whatsoever. I think maybe if there were programs to educate the public about the effects of their decision to purchase these goods and that they really have no medicinal value a lot could be accomplished.
    Liz Clark

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    1. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/28/why-africa-so-poor-google

      This might be an interesting read for you.

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  2. I find this topic very fascinating especially how scientists were able to create two embryos using eggs from the two white rhino females left with the frozen sperm from dead males. However, this topic is also very saddening since white rhino is only one of the many endangered species currently. In addition to excessive poaching, climate change is one other major reasons for the amount of species that are on the verge of extinction. Though climate change is more prevalent nowadays, it is still a slow process to change the way we treat the environment.

    -posted by Emily Wong

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  3. It would be wonderful if it works! We see in-vitro fertilization more often than perhaps 30 years ago and we know that it can work, but what if it could work on rhinos as well? Could that lead to IVF on other species of endangered animals? It honestly would be amazing if it does work and the baby animal I born healthy and little by little the population of those species grows more.

    Posted by Genesis Figueroa

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    1. I am going to do some research on IVF done in animals. If this is something that could work, it can mean a great deal for all the endangered species that we have now due to multiple things such as poaching and climate change.
      -Pam

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  4. Have you heard that we could potentially bring the woolly mammoth back to life using elephant embryos and using the same process? What a time to be alive...

    On another note, I remember reading this story about a man named Bach “Boonchai” Mai of Thailand of Vietnam, an infamous leader in illegal wildlife trade. He was arrested this year in Thailand. However, the unfolding of his arrest revealed the all to common shortcomings on the battle against animal poaching. Whereas the consequences of violating both an international treaty on wildlife trade and Thailand’s Wildlife Preservation and Protection act would have led to years of jail time and a hefty fine, deficiency and corruption in the execution of his helped Bach escape any punishment and continue his trade. Cases like Bach’s happen often and end with the same results. Most wildlife criminals caught face little to no consequences, giving them and others all the more incentive to continue with their trade operations. These failed cases send the message that anyone can get away with animal poaching and trade. The fight against the wildlife poaching industry is very difficult because it primarily occurs in countries that have very weak systems implemented to stop it from happening. Tanzania recently began to crack down on animal poaching when the ‘Ivory Queen’, also known as Yang Feng Glan of China, was sentenced to 15 years of prison in Tanzanian court, setting an example for other African countries. Let's just pray that they follow.
    Posted by Lauren Mason

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    1. If you'd like to read more about what I've described above, here's the Nat Geo article I read:
      https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/thai-court-dismisses-case-against-suspected-poaching-kingpin/

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    2. It would be amazing if that worked!!
      it also makes me so mad that these cases end up like this. i wish there was away to implement more force on these laws but like you said, these countries have very weak systems and it is hard to work against the big corporations that support this.
      -Pam

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  5. I really enjoyed this article because I like when attention is brought to important matters. It is so sad that the number one reason for decrease in the white rhinos is due to poaching for their horns. I hope that the two embryos will be able to sustain life because this could be a huge discovery and help repopulate many species that are on the verge of extinction. This could rebuild so many populations and even help return some keystone species back to a normal population size. I look forward to reading more about this and keeping up with this as more information is released.
    - Posted by Sophie DeRepentigny

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