1 00:00:41,820 --> 00:00:43,500 Sudan, come on, boy. 2 00:01:23,700 --> 00:01:27,380 This is the remarkable story of an animal who survived 3 00:01:27,380 --> 00:01:29,980 the destruction of the rest of his species. 4 00:01:31,420 --> 00:01:36,060 He's travelled the globe, from the open savannahs of Africa, 5 00:01:36,060 --> 00:01:37,500 to a closed world behind the Iron Curtain. 6 00:01:39,220 --> 00:01:42,380 Now as the very last male of his kind, 7 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:47,220 he's become an unwitting celebrity in an astonishing modern-day fable. 8 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:50,700 The whole story is not only about animals, but it's a story 9 00:01:50,700 --> 00:01:52,460 about our human nature. 10 00:01:52,460 --> 00:01:56,780 And the focus of a battle to save a species we pushed to the very 11 00:01:56,780 --> 00:01:58,620 brink of extinction. 12 00:01:58,620 --> 00:02:01,460 You look at that great big lumbering dinosaur and you think, hey, 13 00:02:01,460 --> 00:02:04,700 what did we do wrong? Why did we end up in this crazy situation? 14 00:02:20,820 --> 00:02:24,820 Sudan is inside a pen and we will maintain the right-hand side 15 00:02:24,820 --> 00:02:28,060 and we will avoid talking. We will talk when we come out of Sudan. 16 00:02:32,140 --> 00:02:34,180 So maybe one person at a time can have a chance 17 00:02:34,180 --> 00:02:36,260 to have a photo with Sudan. 18 00:02:39,460 --> 00:02:41,340 It's amazing for us to have him here. 19 00:02:41,340 --> 00:02:42,700 He's really popular. 20 00:02:42,700 --> 00:02:47,140 I mean, he's like a little star, you know, a Hollywood star. 21 00:02:47,140 --> 00:02:49,100 This is the last male. 22 00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:51,620 People of all over the world have written about him 23 00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:53,460 and people are coming here to film him, 24 00:02:53,460 --> 00:02:55,420 people are coming here to photograph him. 25 00:02:57,300 --> 00:02:59,060 We have a calendar for Sudan, 26 00:02:59,060 --> 00:03:01,980 because we don't want to have more than one film crew or one journalist 27 00:03:01,980 --> 00:03:04,940 coming to visit him during a day, because he needs to rest. 28 00:03:06,060 --> 00:03:09,500 He's got followers on Facebook, on Instagram, you know, 29 00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:11,380 he's got his own hash tag. 30 00:03:11,380 --> 00:03:13,580 So if you search for #LastMaleStanding on Twitter, 31 00:03:13,580 --> 00:03:15,580 you will see that he's quite popular. 32 00:03:15,580 --> 00:03:18,260 I would go as far as saying that he's the most popular 33 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:19,660 rhino on the planet. 34 00:03:22,180 --> 00:03:23,900 A lot of people have heard about Sudan 35 00:03:23,900 --> 00:03:27,380 because of what's happening to the species. 36 00:03:27,380 --> 00:03:28,980 This is not a Kodak moment. 37 00:03:30,420 --> 00:03:34,100 It's a real shame that it's now that people are coming to see Sudan, but 38 00:03:34,100 --> 00:03:37,100 the bottom line is, people are interested in crisis, aren't they? 39 00:03:38,300 --> 00:03:39,540 And this is a crisis. 40 00:03:42,060 --> 00:03:46,460 Sudan's kind have roamed our planet for some 50 million years. 41 00:03:47,660 --> 00:03:50,380 He's a northern white rhino, a subspecies, 42 00:03:50,380 --> 00:03:52,700 once abundant in central Africa. 43 00:03:54,180 --> 00:03:58,660 But which today is on the edge of extinction, with just three animals 44 00:03:58,660 --> 00:04:04,540 known to be alive. Sudan and his two female companions. 45 00:04:33,300 --> 00:04:37,620 This is a very big problem because how can you save a species which is 46 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:39,100 already declared as extinct? 47 00:04:41,220 --> 00:04:43,540 That's why science has to come in. 48 00:04:46,860 --> 00:04:49,420 So, everybody, welcome to this meeting. 49 00:04:49,420 --> 00:04:52,060 We are very, very privileged to have very, 50 00:04:52,060 --> 00:04:54,700 very expert people at this table. 51 00:04:54,700 --> 00:04:58,500 There are veterinarians here, there are reproductive experts here, 52 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:01,420 there are conservationists here. 53 00:05:01,420 --> 00:05:05,180 I spent 22 years living with the northern white rhinos in the wild. 54 00:05:05,180 --> 00:05:06,900 Despite everything we've done, 55 00:05:06,900 --> 00:05:08,220 you know, we're down to, 56 00:05:08,220 --> 00:05:11,820 reduced to a small known number. 57 00:05:11,820 --> 00:05:15,220 It's terrible to have got to this stage. 58 00:05:15,220 --> 00:05:19,220 This meeting of experts, global experts, 59 00:05:19,220 --> 00:05:25,340 is going to try to find a way of introducing emerging technology 60 00:05:25,340 --> 00:05:28,180 into the northern white rhino rescue programme, 61 00:05:28,180 --> 00:05:30,100 which is extremely challenging. 62 00:05:31,620 --> 00:05:34,140 We're trying to find a way of making sure these animals 63 00:05:34,140 --> 00:05:35,340 continue to exist. 64 00:05:36,380 --> 00:05:37,860 We're racing against time, 65 00:05:37,860 --> 00:05:41,100 because there's only three animals left on the planet, 66 00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:43,180 of which only two are females. 67 00:05:44,700 --> 00:05:47,220 And Sudan is an old rhino. He could die tomorrow. 68 00:05:49,180 --> 00:05:53,500 This rhino lived for several millions of years on our planet. 69 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:55,660 Yeah, he looks quite active. Yeah. 70 00:05:55,660 --> 00:05:58,740 And it would still live another several millions, 71 00:05:58,740 --> 00:06:01,340 but the perversity of going for the horn 72 00:06:01,340 --> 00:06:03,180 brings them into this situation. 73 00:06:06,220 --> 00:06:08,060 And I think humans did that, 74 00:06:08,060 --> 00:06:11,460 and humans have the responsibility to correct it. 75 00:06:15,380 --> 00:06:19,220 The tale of how Sudan came to be the last male on the planet 76 00:06:19,220 --> 00:06:22,260 begins 40 years ago, when he was just a baby. 77 00:06:32,060 --> 00:06:35,500 There's no picture, photograph of Sudan as a baby. 78 00:06:36,660 --> 00:06:38,740 He was actually born in the South Sudan, 79 00:06:38,740 --> 00:06:41,380 in an area where there were not many people. 80 00:06:43,340 --> 00:06:48,060 But like all baby rhinos, he would have stuck close to his mother. 81 00:06:52,540 --> 00:06:55,180 When it was really hot, he might have been sheltering under her 82 00:06:55,180 --> 00:06:59,100 to be in the shade, or they would both be sitting under a tree or, 83 00:06:59,100 --> 00:07:00,700 you know, by a bush. 84 00:07:03,060 --> 00:07:06,540 He'd be very close to her everywhere, going everywhere, 85 00:07:06,540 --> 00:07:07,980 very close with her. 86 00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:13,860 At his age, he would have been going between the grass but his mother 87 00:07:13,860 --> 00:07:16,300 would have been holding her head over the grass. 88 00:07:21,220 --> 00:07:26,260 And they call to each other, a little meow, meow, meow. 89 00:07:26,260 --> 00:07:27,900 Meow, meow. 90 00:07:27,900 --> 00:07:31,740 Little mews that rhinos call to each other with as a contact call, 91 00:07:31,740 --> 00:07:33,140 so they don't get lost. 92 00:07:37,180 --> 00:07:38,860 It's the one time in a rhino's life 93 00:07:38,860 --> 00:07:40,500 when they are hugely vulnerable 94 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:44,780 is when they're small. Probably the biggest threat are hyenas, 95 00:07:44,780 --> 00:07:49,420 number one. Number two, probably lion, and of course, human beings. 96 00:07:50,940 --> 00:07:54,100 That little fellow, all he wants to do is just be with his mum and he 97 00:07:54,100 --> 00:07:55,500 knows that's his only chance. 98 00:07:55,500 --> 00:07:58,660 If he gets separated from his mum, he's terribly stressed out. 99 00:08:01,460 --> 00:08:03,580 Sudan was two years old. 100 00:08:05,300 --> 00:08:09,300 He was the youngest of the whole lot that we caught. 101 00:08:13,220 --> 00:08:16,700 It was the Chipperfield family's, sort of, brainstorm 102 00:08:16,700 --> 00:08:18,380 to start safari parks. 103 00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:25,820 And it was a new concept, totally new way of showing animals, wild 104 00:08:25,820 --> 00:08:29,620 animals. Longleat was the first one in the world 105 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:33,580 and I happened to get a job there. 106 00:08:35,940 --> 00:08:40,340 Richard Chipperfield started setting up safari parks in many other 107 00:08:40,340 --> 00:08:41,660 countries in Europe. 108 00:08:42,820 --> 00:08:45,660 So obviously, he needed more and more animals. 109 00:08:51,980 --> 00:08:53,620 It was exhilarating. 110 00:08:53,620 --> 00:08:54,940 It was great fun. 111 00:08:54,940 --> 00:08:56,220 I enjoyed it. 112 00:08:58,100 --> 00:09:00,940 You roped the animals and then everybody grabs the animal 113 00:09:00,940 --> 00:09:02,340 from all angles. 114 00:09:05,860 --> 00:09:08,700 And then take it back to camp. 115 00:09:09,860 --> 00:09:14,300 You have to remember, in those days, there was SO much wildlife around. 116 00:09:14,300 --> 00:09:17,980 Herds of thousands or more elephants. 117 00:09:17,980 --> 00:09:19,980 It was not uncommon at all. 118 00:09:21,420 --> 00:09:25,500 I don't think anybody sees that many elephants in one herd today. 119 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:32,060 So it was like, sure, you take a few individuals to go to safari parks 120 00:09:32,060 --> 00:09:36,020 and people in Europe can see these animals and appreciate them. 121 00:09:38,900 --> 00:09:42,540 When the Chipperfields wanted someone to go out 122 00:09:42,540 --> 00:09:47,860 and join the capture team, I quickly volunteered and was accepted 123 00:09:47,860 --> 00:09:51,100 and within a few days, there I was in Africa. 124 00:09:56,980 --> 00:10:03,340 In 1974, Richard asked me to take some of our crew and go up to Shambe 125 00:10:03,340 --> 00:10:05,500 in South Sudan, because he had heard 126 00:10:05,500 --> 00:10:08,300 that there were northern white rhinos up there. 127 00:10:12,820 --> 00:10:15,460 In the years preceding Sudan's birth, 128 00:10:15,460 --> 00:10:17,900 a wave of heavy poaching dramatically reduced 129 00:10:17,900 --> 00:10:21,740 the number of northern white rhinos, driving the survivors 130 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:23,980 into increasingly remote areas. 131 00:10:25,620 --> 00:10:30,180 Well, it was an adventure, because South Sudan was seriously primitive. 132 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:34,180 This was quite a rare species 133 00:10:34,180 --> 00:10:37,820 and we had an actual order to catch six - 134 00:10:37,820 --> 00:10:39,620 two males and four females. 135 00:10:44,300 --> 00:10:47,740 We had to find the right sort of size. 136 00:10:47,740 --> 00:10:52,660 Something that is definitely weaned, but not too grown either. 137 00:10:52,660 --> 00:10:56,180 So that they were pretty easy to shape, you could say. 138 00:10:56,180 --> 00:11:00,580 They would tame down and adjust easier to a different life. 139 00:11:05,060 --> 00:11:07,460 When we went to catch it, the first job in the morning, 140 00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:11,340 I used to go up with a pilot and float around in the sky 141 00:11:11,340 --> 00:11:14,900 like a vulture and we'd fly round until we found the rhinos. 142 00:11:14,900 --> 00:11:20,660 And then, it was just a question of being able to get them on the move, 143 00:11:20,660 --> 00:11:22,860 nip in, steal one. 144 00:11:27,220 --> 00:11:30,420 My pole was going directly behind the animal's head, that's so 145 00:11:30,420 --> 00:11:32,620 he couldn't see me. Couldn't see my rope. 146 00:11:35,500 --> 00:11:38,540 It came to that split second and then I knew 147 00:11:38,540 --> 00:11:40,780 that all I'd got to do was that. 148 00:11:44,020 --> 00:11:45,860 I can remember catching Sudan. 149 00:11:46,980 --> 00:11:49,900 He put his head straight through my noose and...got him. 150 00:11:52,460 --> 00:11:56,540 I don't think I ever felt that I was doing wrong, 151 00:11:56,540 --> 00:12:00,740 but I suppose I couldn't help but have some sympathy. 152 00:12:02,100 --> 00:12:05,020 An animal's being taken away from the herd, or from mothers. 153 00:12:06,020 --> 00:12:07,580 It can't have been easy. 154 00:12:11,020 --> 00:12:14,300 Sounds crazy, but in a way, we were saving them 155 00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:16,300 from the risk of poaching. 156 00:12:18,540 --> 00:12:22,220 What would have happened to Sudan if you hadn't captured him? 157 00:12:23,220 --> 00:12:24,740 He'd be dead. 158 00:12:26,660 --> 00:12:28,780 For sure. A long time ago. 159 00:12:30,780 --> 00:12:32,180 They all would. 160 00:12:37,860 --> 00:12:40,860 Annie stayed with the six rhinos, and then eventually, 161 00:12:40,860 --> 00:12:43,900 they moved them out from there and took them into Uganda 162 00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:45,860 and on the train down to Mombasa. 163 00:12:47,020 --> 00:12:48,940 Then they shipped from Mombasa to Europe. 164 00:12:50,060 --> 00:12:54,100 And then headed into the communist bloc to the Czech Republic. 165 00:12:54,100 --> 00:12:55,620 Czechoslovakia, as it was then. 166 00:13:02,420 --> 00:13:06,940 The rhinos were an actual order from Jo Vagner. 167 00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:13,780 He was a TV personality in Czechoslovakia as it was then. 168 00:13:13,780 --> 00:13:19,220 He had a weekly show about wildlife and he was the director 169 00:13:19,220 --> 00:13:23,540 for Dvur Kralove Zoo, collecting all sorts of various species. 170 00:13:35,780 --> 00:13:38,780 THEY ARGUE IN CZECH 171 00:13:45,940 --> 00:13:47,620 Oh, she will not talk English at all. 172 00:13:51,220 --> 00:13:52,780 This is Sudan. 173 00:13:52,780 --> 00:13:58,100 Yes. My father took six to Czech Republic, to Czechoslovakia. 174 00:13:58,100 --> 00:14:00,740 And actually, I remember my grandfather, 175 00:14:00,740 --> 00:14:02,780 whenever he had time, he came, 176 00:14:02,780 --> 00:14:06,620 he jump in this little corridor, I don't know how you say it, 177 00:14:06,620 --> 00:14:11,100 and he was talking to them. They always came. 178 00:14:11,100 --> 00:14:13,820 He whistled on them. He has his own special whistle. 179 00:14:13,820 --> 00:14:15,780 He whistled and they were far, far away. 180 00:14:15,780 --> 00:14:18,020 He whistled, and they came to him 181 00:14:18,020 --> 00:14:20,260 and he was just like patting them 182 00:14:20,260 --> 00:14:22,580 and telling them, everything will be all right. 183 00:14:22,580 --> 00:14:24,820 And they're in safe place in the world 184 00:14:24,820 --> 00:14:27,860 and it was a really touching story. Yeah. 185 00:14:30,180 --> 00:14:32,820 This is a white-lipped rhinoceros 186 00:14:32,820 --> 00:14:35,060 and it's got this wide mouth, 187 00:14:35,060 --> 00:14:36,860 because it eats lots of grass. 188 00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:39,460 We don't have a fence. 189 00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:43,580 It's much nicer when you can look them in the eyes. 190 00:14:43,580 --> 00:14:46,860 Of course, there has to be some kind of protection, because otherwise, 191 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:48,940 the rhinos could kill the visitors. 192 00:16:24,660 --> 00:16:29,060 TRANSLATION: Our aim is not only to display these animals. 193 00:16:29,060 --> 00:16:30,820 We want them to reproduce. 194 00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:36,740 I want these animals to survive in their new home so in the future, 195 00:16:36,740 --> 00:16:39,220 our nation's children will have the chance of coming 196 00:16:39,220 --> 00:16:41,340 face-to-face with them. 197 00:18:25,220 --> 00:18:28,300 Don't get me wrong, certainly the folk who had the northern whites in 198 00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:32,340 captivity, you know, they're good people and they tried terribly hard 199 00:18:32,340 --> 00:18:35,300 to give them as natural an environment as possible. 200 00:18:36,580 --> 00:18:39,460 But unfortunately, they never could give them what they had in the wild. 201 00:18:40,620 --> 00:18:43,660 And that is one of the huge issues about what happened 202 00:18:43,660 --> 00:18:45,580 to the northern whites. 203 00:19:05,020 --> 00:19:07,740 Well, this is a stained-glass window that's...Garamba. 204 00:19:09,140 --> 00:19:13,540 I wanted to put something here that was really Garamba. 205 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:16,460 As you can see, there's a rhino at the bottom, 206 00:19:16,460 --> 00:19:21,020 the long grass and the blue is supposed to be the Garamba River, 207 00:19:21,020 --> 00:19:24,140 curving away, and Mount Bagunda in the background. 208 00:19:24,140 --> 00:19:28,500 Sort of a memorial? Well, sort of, yes. 209 00:19:32,820 --> 00:19:35,060 I've been reliving so much of it. 210 00:19:37,420 --> 00:19:39,580 I just thought it was... 211 00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:42,060 ..a nice thing to have in one's house. 212 00:19:48,940 --> 00:19:50,620 It was at the end of the '70s. 213 00:19:52,340 --> 00:19:54,660 I started working in rhino conservation. 214 00:19:56,220 --> 00:20:00,180 We found that northern white rhino populations were going downhill 215 00:20:00,180 --> 00:20:01,820 very rapidly. 216 00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:04,940 Doctor Kes Hillman, a young zoologist, 217 00:20:04,940 --> 00:20:07,660 has been investigating the rhino slaughter in Africa. 218 00:20:07,660 --> 00:20:11,420 Kes, just how endangered are the rhinoceros at the moment? 219 00:20:11,420 --> 00:20:13,700 Well, some species of rhinos, 220 00:20:13,700 --> 00:20:16,900 there's only about a tenth of the numbers that there were in the past, 221 00:20:16,900 --> 00:20:18,660 so if anything desperate was to happen, 222 00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:20,220 the species could be wiped out. 223 00:20:21,820 --> 00:20:25,500 In Africa and Asia, the rhinoceros is being ruthlessly hunted 224 00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:28,660 and in some parts, it's in danger of extinction. 225 00:20:28,660 --> 00:20:30,140 And all because of its horn, 226 00:20:30,140 --> 00:20:33,380 which in many places is regarded as an aphrodisiac. 227 00:20:37,060 --> 00:20:40,700 All the countries where the northern white rhino unfortunately naturally 228 00:20:40,700 --> 00:20:43,420 occurred were incredibly unstable. 229 00:20:44,860 --> 00:20:50,260 And instability and civil war, et cetera, means increased poaching. 230 00:20:50,260 --> 00:20:54,580 And poaching, it makes money to keep the war going. 231 00:20:56,580 --> 00:21:01,180 Armed conflict across central Africa in the 1970s and early 1980s 232 00:21:01,180 --> 00:21:03,820 helped wipe out the northern white rhino population... 233 00:21:07,100 --> 00:21:10,340 ..except for a small stronghold in the Garamba National Park. 234 00:21:14,780 --> 00:21:17,380 Garamba is 5,000 square kilometres. 235 00:21:17,380 --> 00:21:20,140 It's a long, narrow park up in the north 236 00:21:20,140 --> 00:21:22,940 of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 237 00:21:24,100 --> 00:21:27,820 The remaining northern white rhinos in the world were living there. 238 00:21:27,820 --> 00:21:29,460 In March 1984, 239 00:21:29,460 --> 00:21:33,820 we were asked to come in to help to protect this precious population. 240 00:21:39,620 --> 00:21:44,460 When they first counted, there were about 14 rhinos left in Garamba. 241 00:21:44,460 --> 00:21:49,340 But clearly, enough to turn things around 242 00:21:49,340 --> 00:21:51,340 and get a nice population going. 243 00:21:57,820 --> 00:22:00,500 Obviously, security is the most important issue. 244 00:22:01,660 --> 00:22:04,380 We started up law enforcement monitoring, 245 00:22:04,380 --> 00:22:06,980 training groups of guys from the local town. 246 00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:12,260 It was always a concern when you've got a very small population 247 00:22:12,260 --> 00:22:16,140 like that and they are in a relatively dangerous area, 248 00:22:16,140 --> 00:22:19,380 because there was still war going on in Sudan. 249 00:22:19,380 --> 00:22:20,420 It's a risk. 250 00:22:22,020 --> 00:22:25,140 But I believe it's really important to protect them 251 00:22:25,140 --> 00:22:28,420 in their natural habitat, rather than in zoos. 252 00:22:30,180 --> 00:22:33,020 Because it's clearly a perfect habitat for them. 253 00:22:37,100 --> 00:22:39,940 The survival of the northern white rhinos was now dependent 254 00:22:39,940 --> 00:22:43,380 on the success of two tiny populations. 255 00:22:43,380 --> 00:22:47,620 15 who roamed free in Africa, and seven kept behind the Iron Curtain 256 00:22:47,620 --> 00:22:49,060 in Czechoslovakia. 257 00:23:50,700 --> 00:23:53,660 TRANSLATION: It's pretty obvious that we can't leave it up to nature 258 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:55,700 to make sure this species survives. 259 00:23:56,700 --> 00:23:59,940 There are so few of these animals left, we've got to step in and help. 260 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:46,700 TRANSLATION: Here in chilly Czechoslovakia, 261 00:24:46,700 --> 00:24:50,140 we're breeding these tropical African animals. 262 00:24:50,140 --> 00:24:54,980 Our zoo is famous because it's one of the few zoos around the world 263 00:24:54,980 --> 00:24:58,260 involved in reproducing these rare rhinos. 264 00:26:55,260 --> 00:26:57,660 Well, I guess by the early '90s, 265 00:26:57,660 --> 00:27:01,140 Kes and her team had stabilised the situation. 266 00:27:01,140 --> 00:27:04,020 The rhino were breeding up nicely. 267 00:27:04,020 --> 00:27:07,820 Population increasing, and I think she was now comfortable to say, 268 00:27:07,820 --> 00:27:10,500 "Let's get to know a bit more about these rhinos." 269 00:27:17,020 --> 00:27:21,260 In Garamba, I was trying to observe the northern white rhinos' natural 270 00:27:21,260 --> 00:27:26,380 behaviour and you were trying to understand what makes a population 271 00:27:26,380 --> 00:27:30,380 survive and grow under natural conditions. 272 00:27:39,540 --> 00:27:42,940 What I found was that, like with every African rhino species, 273 00:27:42,940 --> 00:27:46,460 the dominant males fight for and hold a territory 274 00:27:46,460 --> 00:27:49,700 and they defend that against other dominant males. 275 00:27:51,100 --> 00:27:54,380 And you would get fighting between males at that stage. 276 00:27:56,820 --> 00:27:59,820 With all rhino, the dominant male basically, 277 00:27:59,820 --> 00:28:02,700 he's got to strut his stuff, hold his area. 278 00:28:06,780 --> 00:28:10,660 All of this competition is terribly important to fire them up. 279 00:28:10,660 --> 00:28:14,260 Their testosterone levels are up and they're good for breeding. 280 00:28:17,940 --> 00:28:22,580 The males will leave dung and urinate around their territory, 281 00:28:22,580 --> 00:28:26,940 so another male coming in will think, "Oh, dear. 282 00:28:26,940 --> 00:28:31,540 "He's here. I'd better stay away or I'd better be wary or..." 283 00:28:31,540 --> 00:28:32,940 And a female would, "Woohoo! 284 00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:35,300 "He's here!", you know, "Let's go in there." 285 00:28:46,100 --> 00:28:48,820 In Garamba, it was just a very healthy situation 286 00:28:48,820 --> 00:28:51,860 and they were just producing babies all the time. 287 00:28:53,220 --> 00:28:55,860 That was wonderful. Whenever you see, you know, see a new calf, 288 00:28:55,860 --> 00:28:57,820 "Oh, so-and-so's had a baby!", you know, 289 00:28:57,820 --> 00:29:00,420 and we'd decide what we were going to call it. 290 00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:06,140 Kes was hugely successful. 291 00:29:06,140 --> 00:29:09,100 These animals were now safe in Garamba. 292 00:29:09,100 --> 00:29:10,940 You know, this is where they had evolved. 293 00:29:10,940 --> 00:29:13,980 This is where they had always, you know, done well. 294 00:29:13,980 --> 00:29:15,860 You know, the white rhinos were in paradise. 295 00:29:19,580 --> 00:29:21,380 By the mid-1990s, 296 00:29:21,380 --> 00:29:24,940 the rhino population in Garamba had more than doubled to 31. 297 00:29:26,420 --> 00:29:29,580 In captivity, there had been three births. 298 00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:31,660 But also two deaths. 299 00:29:31,660 --> 00:29:35,860 And as Cold War tensions eased, three were lent to San Diego zoo 300 00:29:35,860 --> 00:29:37,940 in the hope that they would breed there. 301 00:29:39,580 --> 00:29:43,220 In 12 years, the rhinos in Garamba had doubled 302 00:29:43,220 --> 00:29:46,500 and the rhinos in captivity weren't doing so well. 303 00:29:47,940 --> 00:29:51,380 You know, they were in concrete enclosures and of course, 304 00:29:51,380 --> 00:29:55,540 they would be leaving dung in those areas and then going back 305 00:29:55,540 --> 00:29:59,940 and another one would be coming out, and so, it was quite confusing 306 00:29:59,940 --> 00:30:00,980 for the rhinos. 307 00:30:02,660 --> 00:30:05,580 They seemed to develop the most peculiar shaped horns, 308 00:30:05,580 --> 00:30:07,660 because they can't rub them in the same way 309 00:30:07,660 --> 00:30:09,100 that they do in the wild. 310 00:30:11,660 --> 00:30:13,940 It's a very unnatural situation for them. 311 00:30:17,580 --> 00:30:22,060 TRANSLATION: I'm no longer very optimistic. 312 00:30:22,060 --> 00:30:24,860 They're just vegetating here. 313 00:30:24,860 --> 00:30:27,860 They're living in conditions which look good 314 00:30:27,860 --> 00:30:31,180 but don't provide for their biological needs. 315 00:30:32,900 --> 00:30:36,860 By that stage, Sudan had spent almost 20 years in captivity. 316 00:30:38,220 --> 00:30:40,740 Who knows what went on in his mind, we'll never know. 317 00:30:43,820 --> 00:30:48,860 Physiologically, I think there must be something negative happening, 318 00:30:48,860 --> 00:30:51,900 something, you know, less than perfect. 319 00:30:51,900 --> 00:30:55,900 It must have taken a long time to make peace with his different 320 00:30:55,900 --> 00:30:57,580 environment he's in. 321 00:33:58,380 --> 00:34:02,460 You can imagine, it was clearly a very difficult situation. 322 00:34:02,460 --> 00:34:05,100 As the numbers of northern whites became less and less, 323 00:34:05,100 --> 00:34:09,380 these animals became more of a valuable drawcard for the zoo. 324 00:34:09,380 --> 00:34:13,620 I'm just saying it's a possibility that folk might have hung on to them 325 00:34:13,620 --> 00:34:15,100 longer than they should have, 326 00:34:15,100 --> 00:34:17,260 because they knew people were fascinated. 327 00:34:17,260 --> 00:34:19,700 "Let's go and have a look at them before they're all gone." 328 00:34:21,540 --> 00:34:25,020 Keeping rhinos in zoos is not totally natural, 329 00:34:25,020 --> 00:34:28,300 but on the other hand, it's important for people... 330 00:34:29,740 --> 00:34:30,940 ..you know, in the West, 331 00:34:30,940 --> 00:34:33,300 to be able to see these animals and to realise the 332 00:34:33,300 --> 00:34:39,260 importance of conserving them in the wild and as we now see, 333 00:34:39,260 --> 00:34:43,060 they're an important back-up, because, you know, 334 00:34:43,060 --> 00:34:46,820 you can't always predict what's going to happen in Africa. 335 00:34:46,820 --> 00:34:49,180 THUNDER RUMBLES 336 00:34:49,180 --> 00:34:51,940 'Congo is sliding ever deeper into chaos...' 337 00:34:51,940 --> 00:34:53,620 'The Sudanese government 338 00:34:53,620 --> 00:34:55,660 'says it's putting down a rebellion in Darfur...' 339 00:34:55,660 --> 00:34:58,100 'There is fighting on the streets of Kinshasa tonight, 340 00:34:58,100 --> 00:35:00,620 'and this war could spread across central Africa...' 341 00:35:04,660 --> 00:35:09,220 Kes had no illusions about, you know, the potential 342 00:35:09,220 --> 00:35:11,900 for instability in Garamba. 343 00:35:11,900 --> 00:35:15,340 She knew that it had always been a very unstable part of Africa, 344 00:35:15,340 --> 00:35:17,780 so anything could happen, and yes, anything did happen. 345 00:35:20,860 --> 00:35:25,300 In 2004, we suddenly detected these groups of horsemen. 346 00:35:26,700 --> 00:35:30,580 These guys are actually a sort of mix of tribes, 347 00:35:30,580 --> 00:35:32,860 but generally known as the Umberoro. 348 00:35:32,860 --> 00:35:37,900 And they are age-old elephant hunters from Sudan... 349 00:35:39,420 --> 00:35:41,660 ..but the war had changed things. 350 00:35:41,660 --> 00:35:46,820 They're now armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers and hand grenades. 351 00:35:52,540 --> 00:35:56,900 We set up observation posts on hills and reinforcement posts. 352 00:36:00,860 --> 00:36:03,460 But still they were sort of advancing towards 353 00:36:03,460 --> 00:36:05,220 the elephant and rhino areas. 354 00:36:06,460 --> 00:36:09,420 One day, I was, I happened to be in the radio room, 355 00:36:09,420 --> 00:36:12,020 and they suddenly started calling on the radio about 356 00:36:12,020 --> 00:36:13,860 "Cheval, cheval!" 357 00:36:13,860 --> 00:36:15,900 There were horses in the park. 358 00:36:20,980 --> 00:36:24,380 We jumped into the plane and flew out over that area. 359 00:36:25,900 --> 00:36:29,420 We flew along the Aka Garamba River. 360 00:36:32,340 --> 00:36:34,780 We found a couple of guys on horseback... 361 00:36:36,420 --> 00:36:38,940 ..and a trail of donkeys, 362 00:36:38,940 --> 00:36:42,780 loaded with what was probably ivory and rhino horn. 363 00:36:47,860 --> 00:36:51,100 When we went back and we surveyed the area where they'd been, 364 00:36:51,100 --> 00:36:55,300 it was just a devastation of rhinos massacred everywhere. 365 00:36:55,300 --> 00:37:00,060 There was a nine-year-old female, who was killed just down here. 366 00:37:01,380 --> 00:37:04,820 You know, she'd had her horn absolutely hacked off at the front. 367 00:37:04,820 --> 00:37:06,860 You know, and she was quite young. 368 00:37:06,860 --> 00:37:09,900 She was a perfect, reproductive age female. 369 00:37:09,900 --> 00:37:12,180 You know, it was a real tragedy. 370 00:37:12,180 --> 00:37:15,420 It is every time that you find them dead. 371 00:37:26,180 --> 00:37:30,540 Later on, any rhino skulls that were found were brought in and we, 372 00:37:30,540 --> 00:37:32,860 you know, identified them for sure. 373 00:37:34,980 --> 00:37:37,780 We did a survey in July that year 374 00:37:37,780 --> 00:37:40,780 and we could only find... 375 00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:45,660 ..14 rhinos at that stage in the park. 376 00:37:47,300 --> 00:37:52,220 By December, I did another survey and could only find nine rhinos. 377 00:37:53,300 --> 00:37:57,660 And then, in 2008, they didn't actually see any. 378 00:38:02,420 --> 00:38:04,540 We didn't quite get it right in Garamba. 379 00:38:06,380 --> 00:38:09,660 I know that we did the best we could, 380 00:38:09,660 --> 00:38:14,580 that circumstances that were not usually conservation issues, 381 00:38:14,580 --> 00:38:18,780 they were political and power issues, were what, 382 00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:23,020 generally, caused the problems. 383 00:38:23,020 --> 00:38:26,500 And that's so often, so often the case. 384 00:38:28,580 --> 00:38:32,100 It's been the story across Africa in the last 30, 40 years, 385 00:38:32,100 --> 00:38:35,460 how our wildlife populations have been decimated 386 00:38:35,460 --> 00:38:37,460 as a result of political instability. 387 00:38:37,460 --> 00:38:39,500 And they were all killed? 388 00:38:40,820 --> 00:38:42,300 They were all killed. 389 00:38:42,300 --> 00:38:45,980 There are no northern white rhino left in Garamba. 390 00:38:45,980 --> 00:38:47,420 That's for sure. 391 00:38:57,940 --> 00:39:01,860 My predecessors spent about 40 years trying 392 00:39:01,860 --> 00:39:06,300 to keep the northern white rhinos alive and, you know, 393 00:39:06,300 --> 00:39:08,620 to give them the best possible conditions for breeding. 394 00:39:08,620 --> 00:39:11,380 But it's difficult to change 395 00:39:11,380 --> 00:39:14,020 decisions that were made in the past. 396 00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:18,700 But today, it's obvious that we still feel responsibility for them. 397 00:39:21,940 --> 00:39:24,580 Now we are in the basement of the zoo. 398 00:39:28,340 --> 00:39:32,220 And as we enter into archive, we have a library here. 399 00:39:32,220 --> 00:39:37,340 And we have diaries, in which we wrote all the main things 400 00:39:37,340 --> 00:39:39,820 that happened to animals that we breed here. 401 00:39:42,460 --> 00:39:45,180 From 1975 to 2009, 402 00:39:45,180 --> 00:39:47,100 Sudan's life is here. 403 00:39:50,940 --> 00:39:57,380 By 2009, the situation in the zoo was like, I wouldn't say desperate, 404 00:39:57,380 --> 00:40:00,860 but people believed it would be good to do something, 405 00:40:00,860 --> 00:40:03,060 to try something else. 406 00:40:07,060 --> 00:40:08,660 Time was running out, you know. 407 00:40:10,220 --> 00:40:12,620 These are five animals in captivity, 408 00:40:12,620 --> 00:40:14,980 who are now some of the last representatives 409 00:40:14,980 --> 00:40:17,020 of this subspecies in the world. 410 00:40:19,220 --> 00:40:23,460 But it was sort of my idea to see if putting the four most healthy ones 411 00:40:23,460 --> 00:40:26,740 back in a natural environment would improve their breeding. 412 00:40:26,740 --> 00:40:29,180 We just had to get them out and give them a go. 413 00:41:43,180 --> 00:41:45,700 I was there when Sudan walked out of his crate 414 00:41:45,700 --> 00:41:48,300 and put his foot on African soil for the first time in 30 years. 415 00:41:48,300 --> 00:41:50,220 It was a pretty extraordinary experience. 416 00:41:58,180 --> 00:42:03,220 KEEPER CALLS TO HIM IN CZECH 417 00:42:10,580 --> 00:42:12,380 The keeper's from the Czech Republic. 418 00:42:12,380 --> 00:42:14,540 He had this sort of crazy Czech language, you know, 419 00:42:14,540 --> 00:42:17,860 and the keeper's talking to them and, hey, somewhere along the line, 420 00:42:17,860 --> 00:42:20,300 I guess Sudan had learned Czech! 421 00:42:24,780 --> 00:42:27,380 You could just see happy rhinos. 422 00:42:27,380 --> 00:42:30,100 You could see definitely an improvement in their health, 423 00:42:30,100 --> 00:42:32,100 their whole sort of demeanour. 424 00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:36,420 They had more freedom and loved the climate here and things were looking 425 00:42:36,420 --> 00:42:39,500 very positive. We might just have pulled it off. 426 00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:46,260 So a lot of things changed for the better and gave us hope that this 427 00:42:46,260 --> 00:42:49,820 process of bringing them back to Africa was going to result 428 00:42:49,820 --> 00:42:53,620 in, not only mating activity, but successful pregnancies. 429 00:42:53,620 --> 00:42:56,100 They started mating pretty quickly. 430 00:42:56,100 --> 00:42:59,820 Now, the problem was, when mating activity happened, 431 00:42:59,820 --> 00:43:01,980 it never resulted in a pregnancy. 432 00:43:01,980 --> 00:43:06,620 It was then that we started looking more closely at the reasons why. 433 00:43:17,820 --> 00:43:23,020 We work with elephants, tigers, lions, giant panda, octopus. 434 00:43:24,300 --> 00:43:28,540 The main goal of our activities is to understand 435 00:43:28,540 --> 00:43:32,420 reproduction in wildlife, especially in endangered species. 436 00:43:36,500 --> 00:43:39,140 Two years ago, they brought our team in 437 00:43:39,140 --> 00:43:43,260 to examine the two remaining females in Ol Pejeta. 438 00:43:43,260 --> 00:43:45,700 We did ultrasound examination. 439 00:43:45,700 --> 00:43:50,100 We found dramatic pathological changes on them. 440 00:43:50,100 --> 00:43:55,380 We found that if there is no ongoing reproduction, 441 00:43:55,380 --> 00:44:00,900 then it has a negative impact on the ovaries, the uterus, 442 00:44:00,900 --> 00:44:03,740 these females already shut down their reproduction. 443 00:44:03,740 --> 00:44:05,660 They were not more reproductively active. 444 00:44:08,940 --> 00:44:10,740 Sadly, the truth of the matter is, 445 00:44:10,740 --> 00:44:13,860 because the females hadn't bred for such a long period in zoo conditions 446 00:44:13,860 --> 00:44:16,940 they were now no longer able to conceive. 447 00:44:16,940 --> 00:44:19,940 By the time this discovery was made, 448 00:44:19,940 --> 00:44:24,340 the remaining captive rhinos in San Diego and the Czech Republic 449 00:44:24,340 --> 00:44:25,820 had all died. 450 00:44:27,020 --> 00:44:30,300 And in Ol Pejeta, one of the four rhinos who had returned 451 00:44:30,300 --> 00:44:32,740 died suddenly of a heart attack. 452 00:44:34,140 --> 00:44:38,020 The world population now stood at just three. 453 00:44:39,460 --> 00:44:40,860 Hello, big boy. 454 00:44:42,060 --> 00:44:43,860 Hello, big boy. 455 00:44:45,020 --> 00:44:47,060 Hello, big boy. 456 00:44:47,060 --> 00:44:51,220 Hello, big fella. 457 00:44:52,700 --> 00:44:54,460 Hello, big chap. 458 00:44:54,460 --> 00:44:56,100 Hello, fella. 459 00:45:17,020 --> 00:45:18,620 Hello, big fella. 460 00:45:20,180 --> 00:45:22,100 Hello, big chappy chap. 461 00:45:22,100 --> 00:45:24,540 Hello, boy. Hello, boy. 462 00:45:27,020 --> 00:45:31,300 Maybe having some small dreams of when he was a little fellow 463 00:45:31,300 --> 00:45:33,060 in Sudan all those years ago. 464 00:45:36,380 --> 00:45:39,100 He's definitely a bit more rickety on his legs. 465 00:45:39,100 --> 00:45:40,860 He's definitely a bit more frail. 466 00:45:40,860 --> 00:45:43,020 He struggles to get up in the morning. 467 00:45:43,020 --> 00:45:45,940 His back leg hurts him, so you know, yeah, he's an old man. 468 00:45:45,940 --> 00:45:49,540 We have to expect that he will die sometime soon. 469 00:45:52,820 --> 00:45:57,300 I'm just afraid now, if the other leg starts to become weak, 470 00:45:57,300 --> 00:46:00,100 the right leg becomes weak... 471 00:46:01,220 --> 00:46:02,940 ..we've got a problem. 472 00:46:02,940 --> 00:46:05,980 Either what'll happen is he'll have a heart attack 473 00:46:05,980 --> 00:46:07,580 and he'll fall over, dead, 474 00:46:07,580 --> 00:46:09,220 or he will... 475 00:46:09,220 --> 00:46:11,860 If he gets into a position where he can't move, 476 00:46:11,860 --> 00:46:14,420 which brings lots of complications for big-bodied animals, 477 00:46:14,420 --> 00:46:16,580 then eventually, you'd have to think of euthanasia. 478 00:46:16,580 --> 00:46:18,540 You'd have to put him out of his misery 479 00:46:18,540 --> 00:46:20,180 just like you would do an old dog. 480 00:46:21,940 --> 00:46:25,860 But the truth is, even if Sudan dies, we can still save the species. 481 00:46:26,900 --> 00:46:31,260 And it's morally incumbent upon us to try to make this happen. 482 00:46:45,300 --> 00:46:49,460 These are specially protected cryo containers, 483 00:46:49,460 --> 00:46:51,860 which have an alarm system which calls us 484 00:46:51,860 --> 00:46:54,020 when something is going wrong. 485 00:46:59,620 --> 00:47:03,460 And in here are the samples from the different rhinos. 486 00:47:06,660 --> 00:47:09,340 It is really the backbone of the programme. 487 00:47:11,900 --> 00:47:13,620 That's sperm samples. 488 00:47:13,620 --> 00:47:15,700 We have to have a quick look. 489 00:47:15,700 --> 00:47:19,100 That straw is where the sperm is stored. 490 00:47:19,100 --> 00:47:23,380 We have samples here from northern white rhinos which are all dead. 491 00:47:23,380 --> 00:47:28,780 And we also have samples from Sudan in Ol Pejeta, 492 00:47:28,780 --> 00:47:31,420 and that makes four males which we can use 493 00:47:31,420 --> 00:47:34,540 for the in-vitro fertilisation programme. 494 00:47:34,540 --> 00:47:39,260 There is no way that these animals can reproduce natural wise. 495 00:47:39,260 --> 00:47:43,340 The only way to help would be to use science. 496 00:47:43,340 --> 00:47:46,100 They advance the product of science. 497 00:47:48,580 --> 00:47:51,620 Although there's plenty of sperm stored in Berlin, 498 00:47:51,620 --> 00:47:54,020 the scientist will also need eggs 499 00:47:54,020 --> 00:47:57,020 from the two remaining females in Ol Pejeta. 500 00:47:57,020 --> 00:48:01,380 They plan to harvest these eggs, known as oocytes, 501 00:48:01,380 --> 00:48:04,980 fertilise them with northern white rhino sperm, 502 00:48:04,980 --> 00:48:08,980 and transfer the embryos into a herd of surrogates. 503 00:48:08,980 --> 00:48:13,740 The closely related, but less threatened, southern white rhinos. 504 00:48:15,420 --> 00:48:19,420 The resulting calves could form the basis for a new generation 505 00:48:19,420 --> 00:48:21,460 of northern white rhinos. 506 00:48:25,140 --> 00:48:28,980 In-vitro fertilisation in cattle and horses is a regular occurrence. 507 00:48:28,980 --> 00:48:31,940 The problem is, it's never actually been done 508 00:48:31,940 --> 00:48:34,060 in rhinos as a species. 509 00:48:34,060 --> 00:48:36,580 This process has to be perfected 510 00:48:36,580 --> 00:48:39,140 before the last remaining females die. 511 00:48:39,140 --> 00:48:43,620 If those females die tomorrow, which could happen for whatever reason, 512 00:48:43,620 --> 00:48:47,740 then the last remaining repository of northern white rhino eggs 513 00:48:47,740 --> 00:48:49,340 would be lost. 514 00:48:53,980 --> 00:49:00,340 We have to act very quickly, because Najin is already 26 and Fatu is 15, 515 00:49:00,340 --> 00:49:04,340 so the biological clock and the time window we can be successful, 516 00:49:04,340 --> 00:49:05,940 it's very short. 517 00:49:07,780 --> 00:49:13,260 It's quite a big burden when you do something new that you can't fail, 518 00:49:13,260 --> 00:49:15,500 but, in this case... 519 00:49:17,740 --> 00:49:19,340 ..no failure allowed. 520 00:49:33,580 --> 00:49:35,220 That's the female we do. 521 00:49:37,140 --> 00:49:39,700 Before they act as surrogates for the northern whites, 522 00:49:39,700 --> 00:49:42,100 captive southern white rhinos have another role to play. 523 00:49:43,740 --> 00:49:47,220 IVF has never been successfully carried out on rhinos before, 524 00:49:47,220 --> 00:49:50,900 so the scientists will practise on this closely-related sub species. 525 00:49:50,900 --> 00:49:54,100 In any other animal, this procedure's pretty straightforward, 526 00:49:54,100 --> 00:49:57,540 but a rhino, being so large and long, 527 00:49:57,540 --> 00:49:59,980 and it needs all these special equipment 528 00:49:59,980 --> 00:50:03,620 which makes the whole procedure very, very difficult. 529 00:50:05,460 --> 00:50:08,540 A two-tonne animal is challenging. 530 00:50:08,540 --> 00:50:12,380 It's a very long distance, we can't reach the ovaries with the hand. 531 00:50:12,380 --> 00:50:17,060 Therefore, we have to go 1.5 metres inside and that's impossible to do 532 00:50:17,060 --> 00:50:21,700 it via the vagina approach, which is the standard procedure in humans, 533 00:50:21,700 --> 00:50:24,700 cattle and horses. We have to go through the rectum. 534 00:50:26,180 --> 00:50:27,860 Carla is her name. 535 00:50:27,860 --> 00:50:30,020 Do you think that she's nervous? 536 00:50:30,020 --> 00:50:32,420 Oh, I think we are more nervous! 537 00:50:54,420 --> 00:50:56,860 I see the obstacles. I am not stupid. 538 00:50:56,860 --> 00:51:00,860 I'm a scientist. There are a lot of still unsolved problems. 539 00:51:00,860 --> 00:51:04,420 But we have a species here which is nearly extinct 540 00:51:04,420 --> 00:51:06,260 due to human activity, 541 00:51:06,260 --> 00:51:10,140 and we have, maybe, the tools in our hands to stop that. 542 00:51:13,140 --> 00:51:17,100 We take the mounted ultrasound probe about a metre inside the animal 543 00:51:17,100 --> 00:51:18,620 and then inside the animal, 544 00:51:18,620 --> 00:51:22,340 you have to find the ovary, and then hold it at the right position 545 00:51:22,340 --> 00:51:25,700 for Thomas to go with the needle into the ovary, 546 00:51:25,700 --> 00:51:27,940 aspirating the oocyte out. 547 00:51:29,340 --> 00:51:33,820 It's a lot of effort, a lot of time and also money and resources, 548 00:51:33,820 --> 00:51:37,220 but there's not many other options. 549 00:51:39,260 --> 00:51:41,740 If we operate, there's our needle very close 550 00:51:41,740 --> 00:51:44,140 to a very large blood vessel. 551 00:51:46,980 --> 00:51:51,300 And if we puncture that, then we would lose the patient. 552 00:51:54,140 --> 00:51:55,260 Good. 553 00:52:00,660 --> 00:52:04,180 So far, so good. The whole procedure went really well. 554 00:52:04,180 --> 00:52:06,500 We aspirated the oocytes, hopefully, 555 00:52:06,500 --> 00:52:10,180 and Thomas is trying to find them at the moment under the microscope. 556 00:52:12,620 --> 00:52:14,060 Yeah. 557 00:52:18,940 --> 00:52:21,700 We found six oocytes. 558 00:52:21,700 --> 00:52:25,100 I lost one, so we have five oocytes. 559 00:52:25,100 --> 00:52:29,460 We'll send them off to a lab and then they add the sperm, 560 00:52:29,460 --> 00:52:31,340 they inject the sperm. 561 00:52:31,340 --> 00:52:34,380 OK. And we'll know more in about three days, 562 00:52:34,380 --> 00:52:36,300 whether this works or not. 563 00:52:43,900 --> 00:52:44,900 OK. 564 00:52:46,140 --> 00:52:50,820 If we can prove that this procedure is not doing harm to animals, 565 00:52:50,820 --> 00:52:54,300 and we are capable to produce embryos out of that... 566 00:52:54,300 --> 00:52:59,620 ..then we would test that on Fatu and Najin. 567 00:52:59,620 --> 00:53:01,580 Cheers. Cheers. 568 00:53:02,900 --> 00:53:06,060 The rhinos' eggs are couriered nearly 800 miles 569 00:53:06,060 --> 00:53:08,540 to a specialist lab in northern Italy. 570 00:53:10,620 --> 00:53:14,180 There, after they are fertilised, they should begin dividing. 571 00:53:19,260 --> 00:53:22,500 Within days, they'll grow into a bundle of cells 572 00:53:22,500 --> 00:53:24,260 known as a blastocyst. 573 00:53:24,260 --> 00:53:28,380 Only if they reach this stage have they got a good chance 574 00:53:28,380 --> 00:53:30,820 of becoming a healthy baby rhino. 575 00:53:40,580 --> 00:53:43,140 Science is characterised by failures. 576 00:53:43,140 --> 00:53:45,580 By successes, but also by failures. 577 00:53:45,580 --> 00:53:49,540 We are quite disappointed about this outcome. 578 00:53:49,540 --> 00:53:53,460 One of the oocytes developed into an embryo, 579 00:53:53,460 --> 00:53:58,060 but at a very early stage, it stopped. 580 00:53:58,060 --> 00:54:01,900 We have a problem with the whole development of the blastocyst. 581 00:54:08,100 --> 00:54:11,220 The failure to produce a viable rhino embryo 582 00:54:11,220 --> 00:54:14,300 means the scientists have had to recruit more southern whites 583 00:54:14,300 --> 00:54:16,540 from zoos across Europe to practise on. 584 00:54:21,620 --> 00:54:22,820 We are close. 585 00:54:22,820 --> 00:54:24,700 We are not there, but we are close. 586 00:54:24,700 --> 00:54:27,580 We made a lot of progress over the last months. 587 00:54:27,580 --> 00:54:31,460 But science is not predictable. 588 00:54:31,460 --> 00:54:36,220 We can't say at the end we will be for sure successful. 589 00:54:36,220 --> 00:54:37,460 We can't. 590 00:54:40,140 --> 00:54:43,140 We now know that we have the power to destroy the rhinos. 591 00:54:45,180 --> 00:54:50,100 What we try to do now is actually to see whether we have the power 592 00:54:50,100 --> 00:54:51,860 to save them. 593 00:54:54,140 --> 00:54:57,140 We have to accept that we might fail. 594 00:55:10,900 --> 00:55:15,620 The day Sudan goes, it's going to be... It's going to be hectic, 595 00:55:15,620 --> 00:55:19,740 you know, in terms of media and people are going to want pictures 596 00:55:19,740 --> 00:55:22,580 and they're going to want to write about him and stuff like that, 597 00:55:22,580 --> 00:55:24,700 so I'm afraid to say that we are ready. 598 00:55:24,700 --> 00:55:27,100 We've got a press release ready, just for the day he goes, 599 00:55:27,100 --> 00:55:28,260 because we need to be. 600 00:55:28,260 --> 00:55:31,900 I don't know if the zoo is going to want his bones back, to be honest, 601 00:55:31,900 --> 00:55:34,620 because, you know, in the end, he's their animal. 602 00:55:34,620 --> 00:55:37,500 And if we are not allowed to keep his bones, 603 00:55:37,500 --> 00:55:39,620 then we would definitely put a headstone for him 604 00:55:39,620 --> 00:55:41,020 at the rhino cemetery. 605 00:56:26,100 --> 00:56:28,540 In an ideal world, we wouldn't need 606 00:56:28,540 --> 00:56:31,580 to try to save the northern white rhinos. 607 00:56:31,580 --> 00:56:33,260 Sudan. 608 00:56:33,260 --> 00:56:35,660 The breeding programme in Czechoslovakia, 609 00:56:35,660 --> 00:56:38,380 it would have been really successful, you know, 610 00:56:38,380 --> 00:56:40,980 they would flourish in the central Africa. 611 00:56:40,980 --> 00:56:43,620 They would roam the large savannahs there. 612 00:56:43,620 --> 00:56:46,420 Unfortunately, this didn't happen 613 00:56:46,420 --> 00:56:49,740 and it's only due to human activities. 614 00:57:05,100 --> 00:57:08,580 I think this dilemma we're going to face more and more in the years to 615 00:57:08,580 --> 00:57:12,660 come, you know, there are, with so many species just, you know, 616 00:57:12,660 --> 00:57:16,940 tiny populations left, and would it be best to put them in captivity 617 00:57:16,940 --> 00:57:19,340 or best to take their chances in the wild? 618 00:57:20,940 --> 00:57:24,820 There are some species which have done extremely well in captivity, 619 00:57:24,820 --> 00:57:28,900 but I think we understand now that some animals just don't do very well 620 00:57:28,900 --> 00:57:32,220 in a zoo environment, that they probably shouldn't be there. 621 00:57:32,220 --> 00:57:34,540 You know, safety from being poached... 622 00:57:36,220 --> 00:57:41,780 ..but not breeding, ultimately, it's as lethal, essentially, 623 00:57:41,780 --> 00:57:44,780 as having them in the wild, with the threat of poaching. 624 00:57:47,820 --> 00:57:51,820 The northern white rhinos are just a symbol of what we do to 625 00:57:51,820 --> 00:57:53,660 the natural world. 626 00:57:53,660 --> 00:57:55,540 It's visible with the northern white rhinos, 627 00:57:55,540 --> 00:57:58,340 because we witnessed the last three animals and we witness, 628 00:57:58,340 --> 00:58:01,340 you know, they're disappearing, actually, in front of our eyes. 629 00:58:02,620 --> 00:58:06,420 But there are many, many other species disappearing 630 00:58:06,420 --> 00:58:07,980 but we cannot see it so clearly, 631 00:58:07,980 --> 00:58:10,780 like we see it with the northern white rhinos. 632 00:58:24,980 --> 00:58:28,140 # Oh, nobody loves the rhinoceros much 633 00:58:28,140 --> 00:58:30,860 # If you ask the reason why 634 00:58:30,860 --> 00:58:33,900 # They will tell you because of his scaly touch 635 00:58:33,900 --> 00:58:36,100 # Or his hard and glittering eye 636 00:58:36,100 --> 00:58:38,820 # But should you ask a truthful man 637 00:58:38,820 --> 00:58:41,420 # You will get this quick response 638 00:58:41,420 --> 00:58:44,540 # I do not trust that thing on his nose 639 00:58:44,540 --> 00:58:47,300 # The bodger on his bonce! 640 00:58:47,300 --> 00:58:49,740 # Oh, the bodger on the bonce! 641 00:58:49,740 --> 00:58:52,220 # The bodger on the bonce! 642 00:58:52,220 --> 00:58:56,020 # Oh, pity the poor old rhino with 643 00:58:56,020 --> 00:58:58,260 # The bodger on the bonce! #