#067 - Najin

Ol Pejeta, Kenya - 2024
 
Najin is one of the last two remaining northern white rhinos on Earth. Both are female. Yesterday, I read something that really stuck with me: "This isn't an extinction driven by evolution, but by humans killing these creatures for their horns." Let that sink in for a moment.
 
Due to human greed, these two are the final representatives of their subspecies. For decades, poachers, driven by the false belief in the magical powers of rhino horns, slaughtered countless rhinos.
 
In 2009, Najin, Fatu, Sudan, and Suni were living in a zoo in the Czech Republic, but they refused to breed. In a last-ditch effort, they were moved to the grasslands of Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, hoping the natural environment would encourage reproduction. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Over the years, Sudan, Suni, and a few others in zoos around the world passed away, leaving just two females—Fatu and Najin.
 
Today, Najin and Fatu roam within a 700-acre enclosure, protected 24/7 by armed guards. They are the last ambassadors of their kind, a sobering reminder of what we've lost.
 
But is all hope gone? Not quite. There’s still a fragile hope, a faint glimmer in the eyes of the scientists working to save them. Fatu’s eggs, fertilized with preserved sperm from deceased males, could potentially bring new life. The fate of the northern white rhino now hinges on a scientific gamble—in vitro fertilization and stem cell technology. These procedures are uncharted territory for rhinos, complex and costly.
 
The process is ongoing, and if successful, we might one day see northern white rhinos roaming the African plains once more. Fingers crossed. 🤞
 
But here's the thing—did it have to come to this?
 
Did we really have to drive them to the brink of extinction and then scramble to bring them back? It’s a tragic story, with a few unsung heroes at Ol Pejeta Conservancy working around the clock to give these magnificent animals a fighting chance.