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clock-iconPUBLISHEDJuly 21, 2023
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IFLScience The Big Questions: Can We Save A Species On The Very Brink Of Extinction?

Only two female northern white rhinos remain on planet Earth.

Eleanor Higgs headshot

Eleanor Higgs

Eleanor Higgs headshot

Eleanor Higgs

Digital Content Creator

Eleanor has an undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Reading and a master’s in wildlife documentary production from the University of Salford.

Digital Content Creator

Eleanor has an undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Reading and a master’s in wildlife documentary production from the University of Salford.View full profile

Eleanor has an undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Reading and a master’s in wildlife documentary production from the University of Salford.

View full profile
Rhino lying down with the podcast logo in the foreground

There is still hope and one heck of an ambitious plan for this species.

Image Credit: Marcel Brekelmans/shutterstock.com edited by IFLScience.

In this age of climate change, habitat loss, and destruction of the natural world, we take an in-depth look at one endangered species in particular: the northern white rhino. Just two females remain in the world and neither are capable of carrying a pregnancy. With such constraints in place, we ask the experts if it's possible to save a species on the very brink of extinction.

Host Eleanor Higgs spoke with Dr Susanne Holtze from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research to discuss if and how it might be possible to use genetics research to save the northern white rhino from extinction and whether we should even try.

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to the podcast on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Podbean, Amazon Music, and more. A transcript of the conversation is available here.


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