There are two types of white rhino — northern and southern. The northern white rhino is down to two animals, Najin and Fatu. They live at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, under 24-hour armed guard. Both are female. The last male, Sudan, died back in 2018. Let’s do the math: no male, no babies, no future — at least not the natural way. Scientists call that “functionally extinct,” which is basically saying the story’s over, unless the ending is rewritten.
Don’t worry, people are trying. Early in 2026, scientists created another pure northern white rhino embryo, bringing the total to 39. The plan is to implant them in surrogate southern white rhinos. It’s not a sure thing, though: the first embryo transfer did lead to a southern white rhino pregnancy, but the surrogate died after about 70 days, and the fetus didn’t make it. Still, it proved the method can work. So, we are trying to lab-build our way out of an extinction we caused.
How did we even get to this situation? Our actions. Uganda alone was once home to around 300 northern white rhinos, but poaching increased during the civil war that started in the late 1970s. People killed them for their horns, which are made of keratin, the same material as your fingernails. This is what we traded a whole subspecies for.
The southern white rhino is proof that this is fixable. Back in 1895, people thought they were already extinct until a population of fewer than 100 was found in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Protection, anti-poaching work, and a lot of effort brought their numbers back to the thousands. They’re also being returned to places they vanished from: Uganda recently moved southern white rhinos into Kidepo Valley National Park, 43 years after the last wild rhinos were seen in the country.
So what does this say about the state of our environment? First, it says we’re really good at wiping out species. When the northern white rhino dropped off the map, there were decades of warnings, and we didn’t act fast enough. Also, new threats are stacking up. Southern Africa holds 92% of the world’s remaining white rhinos, and the region’s climate is changing fast, and researchers have warned that temperatures could climb past what rhinos can handle. Second, it says we’re also capable of turning things around. The southern white rhino was brought back by people who protected land, fought poachers, and relocated animals around to rebuild populations.
The real lesson is time. Najin and Fatu are a warning for the whole planet: don’t wait this long again.