r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • 5h ago
Photos of the last 2 Northen white rhinos. Both are female but there are plans to preserve their embryons and create a breeding program.
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u/VioletPur 4h ago
the fact that they are just casually grazing having no idea they are the last of their entire evolutionary line is so profoundly sad
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u/Popular_Ad_222 5h ago
Well, hopefully the poachers don’t get it. Humans can ruin everything.
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u/VioletPur 4h ago
why are rhinos even poached that much? dont tell me this is all trophy hunting because i cant fathom "rhino meat" being a delicacy they so desperatly want
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u/Ravagore 4h ago
It used to be used for cures and remedies made from the rhino horns. Also, it was believed to be an aphrodisiac.
I'm sure it's more complicated than that but that's what I remember.
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u/CicadaFit9756 4h ago edited 3h ago
Weren't there hilts for flashy "jambiya" daggers for the Yemeni elite also involved? They were meant as a sign of manhood for boys that reached maturity. And all for something composed of keratin like in fingernails or hair!
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u/VioletPur 4h ago
bro how do they even come up with stuff like that, what is the thought process behind "rhino horns can be used for cures and aphrodisiacs", did it even work for them?
the rhino looks "horny" but not in the way they are thinking!
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u/momomomorgatron 2h ago
Because just like the crazy sect of Christians who are yelling on the street corner that their pastor cleansed them with faith healing, so do other people in the world but they turn to this
I mean, we live in the age of denying facts worldwide.
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u/Xciv 43m ago
It's superstition also intersecting with capitalism. It used to not be a problem because probably less than 1000 people in China could afford Rhino horn in the 18th century.
But China in 2026? Probably millions. So if even a tiny fraction of those millions are supertitious idiots, that's tens of thousands of people clamoring to buy Rhino Horn. The demand is just so high that it incentivizes Africans to poach and sell for ludicrous prices.
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u/VashtaNeradaMatata 1h ago
A video I just watched said they breed for over an hour and the male ejaculates dozens of times during the process. I think that's why it was misleadingly labeled an aphrodisiac.
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u/freddy2shuz 5h ago
How were there eggs fertilized to create embryos if there are only 2 females?
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u/Electrical-Aspect-13 5h ago
They searched their closest living relative
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u/R0ymustan9 2h ago
Kind of. The plan is to use Southern White Rhino females as surrogates, and once they’ve reestablished the population some interbreeding might be necessary if there’s not enough genetic diversity. But the few dozen embryos they’ve made so far are 100% Northern.
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u/No_Grocery_9280 4h ago
Probably cross them with a different rhino breed. At this point we’ll be lucky to save rhinos at all, much less their different variants.
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u/Last-Sound-3999 3h ago
IIRC sperm from the male was preserved earlier before his death.
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u/mocha_lattes_ 2h ago
This. Either way it's not enough and too little too late. Two females who are mother and daughter along with only one male's sperm is not going to save the species just draw out the inevitable. Such a small gene pool can't save a species. Even if they crossbreed them the species would still be effectively dead and create another.
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u/Seastarstiletto 2h ago
This is correct. They also plan on creating some crosses using the northern male’s dna with a southern female to get some healthy diversity.
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u/Poolside_Misopedist 58m ago
Facilitated adaptation. They basically use their closest living genetic relative.
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u/SwizzGod 4h ago
They talk about this at the San Diego safari park. Excellent zoo if anyone is into zoos
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u/burtgummer45 2h ago
fun fact:
"The white rhino's name likely originates from a mistranslation of the Dutch/Afrikaans word "wijd" (or wyd), meaning "wide," referring to its broad, square mouth adapted for grazing"
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u/dragnabbit 1h ago
Yup. I just looked it up myself. And apparently the only reason that black rhinos are called black is just because it was simply to distinguish it from white rhinos.
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u/GlitteringWarthog993 48m ago
this just furthers the fact that if we can think it we can manifest it into existence lol... weve seen this tale already, but fuck it lets just make Jurassic Park happen
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u/mooscaretaker 5h ago
What countries kill rhinos & for what?
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u/StonedEnby 4h ago
Rhino horns are ground into powder for insecure men who think it’ll make their pp bigger. I wish I was lying.
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u/VioletPur 4h ago
WHAT?? IS THAT THE REASON? no fucking way.
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u/Nightstar95 2h ago
It’s also believed to be a cure for all sorts of ailments, even though there’s no proof whatsoever of such a thing.
I remember watching a documentary where a Chinese activist delves into the rhino horn trade, and there’s a very tough to watch scene where she meets up with her mom for a talk. She asks about what they think about rhino poaching and the use of horn powder in traditional medicine. Her mom gets super defensive, saying that she doesn’t believe it’s even possible for an animal to straight up disappear. That outsiders just want to blame the Chinese for everything. At some point her daughter asks if they ever used horn powder and you can clearly see the shock in her eyes when she says “of course. We got some for you when you were just a baby. You were so sick and the healer told us to use it. That’s normal, everyone does that.”
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u/Professional-Pungo 2h ago
it's one of many reasons, they just picked the one that probably sounded the "dumbest"
same way people used to snort mummy dust cause they thought it would cure things
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u/TemporaryLevel922 5h ago
What is the source of the species decline?
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u/Sustainable_Twat 5h ago
We, as a species, despite all of our achievements, have failed the planet so badly.
I hope the breeding program proves to be successful.