Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 hectare wildlife conservation area in central Kenya and home to both endangered and critically endangered species including black and white rhino. Most famously though it is home to Najin and Fatu, the last two Northern White rhinos left in the world. Visitors to Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages often take the opportunity to visit “the girls” and meet their caretakers and, if you’re curious about the Northern White Rhinos, here’s a little background on how they came to be here, how you can see them and Ol Pejeta’s mission to bring this species back from the brink of extinction.
IN THE BEGINNING
On December 20th 2009 four of the world’s remaining seven Northern White Rhinos (Najin, Fatu, Suni and Sudan) were translocated to Ol Pejeta from a zoo in the Czech Republic after breeding attempts in captivity had yielded poor results. It was hoped that placing the rhinos in their natural environment would aid in their natural reproduction.
Unfortunately, despite everyone’s hopes natural reproduction failed time and again for a number of reasons and, with Sudan as the only male Northern White Rhino alive, it seemed unlikely to happen at all. In 2014 Suni passed away and further hopes were dashed when vets deemed the remaining two females Najin and Fatu incapable of natural reproduction and Sudan’s sperm count was disappointingly low.
In July 2015 the two Northern Whites in captivity passed away, leaving just the three on Ol Pejeta and then the world morned as Sudan, the last remaining male Northern White Rhino died of natural causes in March 2018. It seemed all hope had been lost.
Najin & Fatu with their keepers. Image x Ami Vitale
THE FUTURE OF NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS
At this point Ol Pejeta could certainly have rolled over and given up, but they chose to use the opportunity to make a statement; that no more species should be allowed to go extinct on our watch. They wanted to show the world that there was still hope for wildlife, even when things seemed so bleak. The years that followed saw the beginnings of a unique Biorescue project whereby scientists used stored sperm from male Northern White Rhinos that have passed away, and the eggs collected from Fatu to create embryos which were then implanted into a surrogate Southern White Rhino.
Fatu is preparing for the procedure to retrieve her eggs. Image x Ali Vitale
IVF has never been performed on rhinos before so testing began using the embryos of Southern White Rhinos and in 2023, in a bittersweet moment that made headlines around the world, Ol Pejeta shared the news that the project had been successful; an embryo had been successfully implanted into a female Southern White Rhino, however the rhino that carried that embryo had passed away during her pregnancy from a bacterial infection. Nothing more than very bad luck. But it left Ol Pejeta and all those working on the Northern White Rhino project with a new hope because, whilst the world morned, it became clear that this is in fact a viable solution to the global threat of mass species extinction. The next step is to transplant a Northern White embryo in the hopes to welcome the first Northern White Rhino calf since Fatu’s birth in 2000.
Najin & Fatu on Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Image x Ol Pejeta Conservancy
HOW TO VISIT THE NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS
Najin and Fatu and a selection of Southern White Rhinos being considered for surrogacy are incredibly well protected armed guards and under 24hr monitoring and care in a 700 acre predator free area within the conservancy. Visitors to the conservancy are invited to visit Najin and Fatu on pre-arranged tours where they can enter into the Northern White Rhino enclosure to meet the girls and learn more about the rhinos and about Ol Pejeta’s role in the Biorescue project.
If you’d like to learn more then tune into Nat Geo who have released The Last Rhinos: A New Hope which covers the story of this groundbreaking conservation project. Even better, book your stay at Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages and include a visit to the Northern White Rhinos to witness history unfolding.
Photographs from PAST GUESTS visits to The Northern White Rhinos
Image x Kayla Neilson
Image x Yoga For The Wild
Image x Yoga For The Wild
Image x Yoga For The Wild
KEEP READING
More from the Ol Pejeta Safari Cottages blog
Following the recent release of The Last Rhinos: A New Hope we’re sharing a little more background into how the last two Northern White Rhinos left on the planet came to be here, the work Ol Pejeta is doing to bring them back from extinction and how you can see them today.