Saving the Northern White Rhino

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – San Diego is home to a lot of major attractions, including the World Famous San Diego Zoo.

In fact, San Diego leads the world in saving endangered species, and the most urgent issue facing the zoo now is saving the almost extinct Northern White Rhino.

At the San Diego Safari Park, Nola is one of only five Northern White Rhinos left on the planet.

Northern White Rhinos are nearly as old as the dinosaurs, but modern day poachers have wiped out all but five of them.

The reason: the rhino’s horn. Its literal worth is its weight in gold.

In many parts of the world, poachers are considered terrorists of the animal kingdom, and t hey are treated that way.

Just like pirates or terrorists, special forces are fanned out all over the world, hoping to catch them, before it is too late.

If catching the poachers does not do the trick, then perhaps modern science will.

The woman in charge of this program, is also in charge of the very successful Panda breeding program at the San Diego Zoo.

The hope is at Frozen Zoo, which hopes for a miracle. 

The Northern White Rhino will never breed again, but their DNA could be used and to be breed with a Southern White Rhino.

That would create a hybrid, but the blood line would go on.

The science of man has given the Northern White Rhinos a chance to bring them back.