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Ol Pejeta ranger and head care giver Zacharia Mutai, caresses one of the last two northern white rhinos in the world, 35 year old Najin, in Ol Pejeta conservancy, Laikipia county, on February 6, 2025. Najin and her daughter Fatu are the only northern white rhinos left on Earth. The clock is ticking before they become the latest in a long line of animals that humans have poached to extinction. But a recent breakthrough means this could be the year the world celebrates a new northern white rhino foetus. It would be an unprecedented comeback for the subspecies, declared functionally extinct after the death of the last male, Sudan, in 2018.
Uterus problems mean neither Sudan's daughter Najin nor his granddaughter Fatu can carry a pregnancy to term. But Fatu still produces viable eggs, making her a candidate for in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). (Photo by Simon Maina/AFP Phoot)
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