Thanks to a genetic breakthrough, a rare rhino species may be rescued from extinction

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Thanks to a genetic breakthrough, a rare rhino species may be rescued from extinction
New research from the San Diego Zoo using just 12 frozen cells suggests we can protect the northern white rhino

By MATTHEW ROZSA
Staff Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 16, 2024 5:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) As humans continue to encroach on our planet, we are driving a mass extinction that some experts call a "biological holocaust." Since more and more species are dying, it creates an increasing number of genetic bottlenecks, which make animal and plant survival even more difficult.

Take for example the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), which can be divided into two sub-species that are genetically very similar — but one is relatively thriving while the other is on the brink of extinction.

Scientists using state-of-the-art genetics technology hope to change that — and their recent research published in the journal Evolutionary Applications suggests they might be able to pull it off.

Such a feat would not be unprecedented. The southern white rhinoceroses, which is currently the most abundant rhinoceros species in the world, had been culled down to a population of merely 50 to 200 individuals in the early 20th century. Thanks to rigorous conservation efforts, however, the southern white rhinoceros population had rebounded to roughly 20,000 individuals by 2014 (a surge in poaching around that time has since reduced their population to roughly 18,000). .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/16/thanks-to-a-genetic-breakthrough-a-rare-rhino-species-may-be-rescued-from-extinction/