The Last Two: The Battle to Save the Northern White Rhinos

Married journalists Boštjan (Plan B) and Maja Prijatelj Videmšek explore in this alarming yet optimistic outing conservationists’ efforts to save the last surviving northern white rhinos, Najin and her daughter Fatu, from extinction. Detailing the forces that have brought the species to the brink, the Videmšeks discuss how a series of wars in Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan led to increased raids on wildlife reserves by poachers, who sell horns on the underground market for use in aphrodisiacs and various “miracle cures.” The rhinos’ habitats have also been ravaged by droughts exacerbated by climate change, which the authors contend “now pose[s] a greater threat to the animals’ wellbeing than the poachers.” The Videmšeks explain that after the last male northern white rhino (Fatu’s father) died in 2018, scientists set about reviving the species through stem cell technology and are hoping to one day artificially grow an embryo and transplant it into a surrogate southern white rhino (neither Najin nor Fatu are able to give birth). The authors’ damning account of how human callousness has driven white rhinos to extinction is balanced by the hopeful exploration of how scientific innovation might yet rescue the animals. The result is a stirring look at one of the world’s most endangered creatures. (Aug.)