A team in Kenya has successfully generated five brand-new embryos of the northern white rhino species, marking a significant step forward in the ongoing efforts to prevent their extinction.

The organization responsible, BioRescue, revealed that these embryos were derived from 18 eggs that were gathered from Fatu, one of the last surviving northern white rhinos.

Fatu and her mother, Najin, currently reside in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy located in central Kenya.

Originally born in a Czech Republic zoo, they were later relocated to their native environment in 2009.

“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 project, funded by the German education ministry, said on Facebook.

“The sperm for fertilisation came from two different bulls, thereby improving genetic diversity.”

BioRescue has announced that they have achieved a significant milestone in their conservation efforts by creating the highest number of embryos to date through egg collection, a complex and perilous process.

With the recent success, the total number of embryos generated by BioRescue now stands at 29. These embryos undergo cryopreservation, a technique that involves storing them at extremely low temperatures, in anticipation of future transfer to surrogate southern white rhino mothers.

The reason for using surrogates is that neither Fatu nor Najin, the remaining northern white rhinos, are capable of carrying a pregnancy themselves.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy reports that the BioRescue team has taken another promising step forward in the species' preservation by identifying two female southern white rhinos from the wild as potential surrogate mothers.

Previous attempts to implant embryos into southern white rhinos housed in zoos have proven unsuccessful. However, this latest development offers renewed hope for the successful implementation of the surrogate programme.

“A huge congratulations to the team for their phenomenal dedication and hard work that has made this all possible,” the conservancy said.

While it is a race against time to save the northern white rhino, the southern white rhino is also under threat, with just 18,000 of them left in the wild.