On August 18, the BioRescue team successfully collected ten oocytes (immature egg cells) from the last two northern white rhinos, females Najin and Fatu, in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. This has been the third time the team collected the egg cells in order to fertilize them and to produce viable embryos. In a lab, six out of ten oocytes were injected with northern white rhino semen - despite the fact that only two oocytes were clearly matured. Unfortunately, as the quality of oocytes was poor, this time none of them developed into a viable embryo that could be used for an embryo transfer in future.
Najin after the Ovum Pickup at Ol Pejeta, Kenya. | Photo by Rio The Photographer