A global effort to save the magnificent African rhino species is underway but the species is highly endangered and is facing extinction.

Reports showed that the northern white rhinoceros, a subspecies of the African rhino, is facing extinction as only four northern white rhinos are still alive and only one of them is male.The northern white rhinoceros are extinct in the wild and only four remain in captivity, three females and the only male, called Sudan.

Rhino face a large threat from poachers, who kill the animal for itshorns as it sells for a lot of money in the international markets. The demand for horns is fuelled by believe in China and some other countries that medicine made form ground rhino horns can cure several diseases.The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that they may become extinct before 2026.Reports showed that poachers have killed almost 3,000 rhinos since the year
2008 in South Africa.

Natural pregnancy is unlikely among the four so the officials in Kenya's OlPajetaConservancyare working to inseminate northern white rhino eggs in the lab and implant them in southern white rhino females.

OlPajeta Conservancy CEO Richard Vigne said, "The initial approach will be to look at in-vitro fertilization - removal of eggs from three remaining females and mixing those eggs with sperm stored from northern white rhinos across the world - to create an embryo which will then be implanted into a surrogate white rhino female to create a northern white rhino calf."