BioRescue teams working in Kenya to save endangered species have created five new northern white rhino embryos.
As the company noted in a statement, the embryos were created from 18 eggs from one of the two surviving white rhinos, Fatu, that the team collected in May.
"Four years since the start of this ambitious project to save the Northern White Rhino from extinction, the BioRescue consortium has made significant progress towards its ultimate aim," the company stressed.
The sperm for fertilization, BioRescue emphasized, was obtained from two different bulls, thus enhancing genetic diversity.
The embryos are being cryopreserved - stored at very low temperatures, in order to prepare them for future transfer to surrogate mothers - southern white rhinos.
"Both females were examined and translocated into a safe enclosure," the company noted. "They will now be crucial in supporting the breeding efforts within the BioRescue project for the NWRs [Northern White Rhinoceros]."
Today, there are only two northern white rhinos left in the world, both females, which biologists believe will no longer be able to become pregnant.
The last male white rhino was put to sleep in Kenya in 2018: he was about 90 years old in human years and suffered from an acute form of arthritis, having to spend most of his time lying down.
Almost 80% of the world's wild rhinos are found in South Africa. According to government figures, the country is home to 93% of Africa's 20,000 white rhinos and 39% of the 5,000 black rhinos, which are considered an endangered species.