Saving the white rhino - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.

And I'm Sam. In this programme,

we'll be hearing a news story

linked to the 'Nature versus

Nurture' debate, not concerning

a human, but a rhinoceros!

The extremely rare northern

white rhino of East Africa

was on the brink of extinction

when the second-to-last living

male, Suni, died in 2014,

leaving behind two females,

Najin and Fatu - the last living

creatures of their species.

Conservationists started an

artificial breeding programme,

using eggs from the females and

sperm from Suni to produce

an embryo - an unborn animal

in the very early stages

of development.

Recently there's been a

new development in the

story, but before we hear

more, it's time for my quiz

question. The name,

rhinoceros , comes from

the ancient Greek, but

what exactly does

it mean? Is it:

a) thick skin, b) horned

nose, or c) small eye?

That's a tricky one, because

rhinos have all three!

OK, I'll guess a) thick skin.

OK, Sam, we ll find out later.

Now let's get back to the

story of those precious

northern rhino embryos.

Well, the good news is

that so far five embryos

have been produced.

They're being frozen until

they can be implanted in

southern rhinos - the

northern species'

more common cousin.

Conservationist Thomas

Hildebrandt runs the rhino

breeding programme.

He spoke to BBC World

Service's, Science in Action,

who asked him whether

the embryos were

genetically from the

northern species.

Absolutely right. They're not

hybrids, they're pure

northern white rhino

embryos which were

generated with the

desired breeding partner,

Suni, who died in 2014. So

we have embryos which

have a very high quality...

there's no inbreeding effect

on these embryos, and it's

so important to make the

next step, to transfer these

embryos because we can

preserve life - biological material -

in liquid nitrogen, but what we

can't do - we can't preserve

social knowledge and

therefore we need desperately

a calf on the ground so that

these two existing northern

white rhinos, can teach the

new calf how to behave as

a northern white rhino.

Having genetically pure embryos

prevents the birth of hybrids -

animals that have been bred

from two different species.

It's also important the embryos

have no inbreeding - breeding

of a young animal from two

closely related parents,

because this can

cause disease.

Fortunately, Thomas and

his team have preserved five

healthy and genetically pure

northern rhino embryos

in liquid nitrogen.

But while they can preserve

nature, what Thomas's team

can't provide is nurture - the

social knowledge that a young

northern rhino - or calf - can

only learn from

other northern rhinos.

And since Najin and Fatu,

the last remaining northern

rhinos on Earth, are

getting old, the race is

on to breed a young rhino

calf before they die.

The good news for the

survival of the northern

white rhino is that

experiments to implant

the delicate embryos in

southern rhinos

have been successful.

Here's Thomas Hildebrandt

again talking about these

recent experiments with BBC

World Service programme,

Science in Action:

We will, for sure, not wait

until this pregnancy is

completed because it takes

16 months for a full

pregnancy in a rhinoceros.

So if this embryo implants -

and we can see that on

ultrasound... and - forms a

nice placenta, that is

the goal for us to proceed

with the next step on the

northern white

rhino embryos.

Normally it takes 16 months for

a female rhino to complete

her pregnancy - the state in

which a woman or female

animal has a baby

developing inside her.

But in the case of the

northern rhino, the race

is on to birth calves who

can learn the rhino rules of

social behaviour from

Aunty Najin and Granny

Fatu while they're still

alive...

which is why conservationists

are monitoring the pregnancy

using ultrasound - a

procedure using sound

waves to create images of

internal body parts, or in

this case, growing

rhino babies.

It's an unusual episode in

the ongoing 'Nature versus

Nurture' debate.

And hopefully a big step

towards restoring the

northern white rhino

population so that future

generations get to see these

magnificent creatures with

their thick skin,

horned nose and...

... and small eyes, Neil? So

what was the answer

to your quiz question.

Yes, I asked you what the

name 'rhinoceros' meant.

What did you say, Sam?

I guessed it was a) thick

skin. Was I right?

Well, rhinos certainly do have

thick skin, but their name

actually comes from the

Greek meaning, 'horned nose'.

Well, luckily I've got a

thick skin too, so I won't

take it personally! Let's

have another look at the

vocabulary we've learned,

starting with embryo - an

unborn animal or human

still inside its mother's womb.

A hybrid is an animal or

plant that has been bred

from two different species.

Inbreeding is when a young

animal is born from closely

related parents.

A calf is the name for the

young of several large

mammals including cows,

elephants and whales,

as well as rhinos.

Pregnancy means being

pregnant or growing a

baby inside you.

And finally, ultrasound is

used to see internal organs or

a baby developing

inside a woman.

And that's all from this

species-saving edition

of 6 Minute English.

Goodbye!

Bye bye!