[ti:Scientists Make New Embryo of Rare Rhino Species]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Researchers say they have successfully created another embryo of the northern white rhino.
[00:09.72]The animal risks disappearing forever.
[00:14.80]Just two remain, and both are female.
[00:19.44]This new, viable embryo is the third of its kind.
[00:26.72]To make the embryo, scientists used eggs from one of the surviving females.
[00:34.84]They inseminated the eggs with frozen cells from dead males.
[00:42.12]The embryos are stored in a cool liquid that protects them.
[00:48.72]They will be put into a surrogate mother — a southern white rhino — in the coming months.
[00:56.76]The Kenya Wildlife Service and officials from Kenya, the Czech Republic,
[01:03.92]Germany and Italy made a statement about the success.
[01:10.48]Kenya's wildlife minister, Najib Balala,
[01:15.12]called the ability to stop the loss of the northern rhino "amazing."
[01:22.24]The goal is to create a group of at least five animals
[01:28.16]that could return to their natural environment.
[01:32.76]This process could take many years.
[01:36.36]The two remaining female northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, live in Kenya.
[01:46.80]Fatu's eggs made all three viable embryos.
[01:53.24]Thomas Hildebrandt is with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research in Germany.
[02:02.24]"Now the team will make every effort to achieve the same result
[02:07.64]for the 30-year-old Najin before it is too late for her," he said.
[02:15.52]The operation is safe and can be performed regularly
[02:21.72]before the animals become too old, the statement said.
[02:27.60]The next step is to choose female southern white rhinos
[02:33.00]among those at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy
[02:37.92]to serve as a surrogate mother, Kenya's wildlife minister said.
[02:44.32]Years of humans killing the animals illegally have severely reduced the number of rhinos.
[02:52.84]The last male northern white rhino was a 45-year-old named Sudan.
[03:00.80]In 2017, Sudan became famous
[03:05.60]when he appeared on an online service that connects possible romantic partners.
[03:12.76]The service, called Tinder, listed the rhino as
[03:18.68]"The Most Eligible Bachelor in the World."
[03:22.36]The title was part of a fundraising effort.
[03:27.64]Sudan, named for the country where he was born, died in 2018.
[03:35.52]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM