Reproductive science to save the Northern White Rhino

The Rhino Fertility Research Group, led by Prof. Suzannah Williams is part of our department's Reproductive Medicine & Genetics theme.

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The Rhino Fertility Project

Why this project is important?

The desperate plight of the Northern White Rhino has highlighted the precarious situation of many endangered species around the world. Previous breeding programmes had been successful in raising their numbers but the animals were destroyed by poachers.

The world’s last remaining male died in 2018 leaving just two female rhinos, Najin and her daughter Fatu, neither of which are capable of producing offspring naturally. Although sperm has been saved by conservationists from male Northern White Rhinos, any successfully fertilised eggs would have to be raised in a surrogate mother – most likely a Southern White Rhino, one of their closest living relatives.

With the death of the last male, Sudan, the Northern White Rhino has passed the point where it can be saved naturally and is a shade away from extinction.

How the Rhino fertility project can help

Led by Prof Suzannah Williams, researchers working on the Rhino Fertility Project hope to find a new way of saving the Northern White Rhino by using tissue taken from animal ovaries to produce potentially large numbers of eggs in a laboratory setting.

Together they will refine the method that has been successfully demonstrated in mice. Rhino tissue is scarce and precious - however, ovarian tissue has been obtained by Prof Williams from euthanased Southern White Rhinos which provides the resources for the work.

Can science help save the Northern White Rhino?

With only two Northern White Rhinos remaining, both female, the species can no longer recover naturally.

Professor Suzannah Williams and her team are exploring whether ovarian tissue could be used to produce eggs in the laboratory - opening up a new approach to preserving endangered species.

Watch the video to discover the science behind the Rhino Fertility Project and why this research matters.

How it's going

The research conducted thus far has yielded novel insights into ovary function and morphology. Our paper "The neonatal southern white rhinoceros ovary contains oogonia in germ cell nests" (Appeltant et al., 2023) marks the first-ever description of the structure and molecular characteristics of Southern White Rhino ovaries.

Intriguingly, despite advanced age, all examined ovaries still contain follicles. Our findings suggest a promising opportunity for fertility preservation. Consequently, the utilisation of ovaries from stillborn and adult rhinos can provide a valuable source of cells for advanced assisted reproductive technologies.

We are building upon this knowledge to further our programme aims to develop techniques for culturing follicles from rhino ovarian tissues, with the ultimate aim of generating eggs.

We continue to explore and refine the most effective culturing methods as well as generating novel tools to overcome the challenges.

What is exciting about this research is that it could enable us to pull critically endangered species back from the brink by utilising ovarian tissue from old or injured animals to produce offspring. Once genetic variation within a population has been lost, it is lost forever. This makes it important for us to be able to maintain as many breeding individuals as possible in any conservation programme, to maximise genetic diversity of future populations. This will be a huge buffer against disease and ill health in the long-term, and give the new herds better genetic ability to adapt to changing environments in the future.- Prof. Suzannah Williams

Useful links

The Poo Zoo Project

Led by Professor Suzannah Williams, the Poo Zoo project is developing a non-invasive way to collect and preserve living cells from endangered animals, helping to preserve genetic diversity and support conservation efforts.

Explore the Poo Zoo Project

The Oxford Cryobiology Project

Led by Professor Suzannah Williams, the Oxford Cryobiology Group develops cryopreservation approaches across healthcare and conservation, including preserving genetic material to help protect endangered species.

Explore Oxford Cryobiology

Reproductive Medicine and Genetics Theme

The Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health manages over 30 research groups that fall within either Global Health, Cancer, Maternal & Fetal Health; Big data; and Reproductive Medicine & Genetics.

Reproductive Medicine and Genetics