Learn about the ambitious goal of having 50 white northern rhinos by 2099, the obstacles faced, and the critical efforts made by Thomas and his team to preserve the species. Discover how you can contribute to the cause and stay tuned for a Q&A session on a math curriculum proposed by a mathematician in a previous episode.
Thomas Hildebrandt is trying to bring the northern white rhinoceros back from the brink of extinction. The wildlife veterinarian tells Steve about the far-out techniques he employs, why we might see woolly mammoths in the future, and why he was frustrated the day the Berlin Wall came down.
- SOURCES:
- Thomas Hildebrandt, head of the department of reproduction management at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and professor of wildlife reproduction medicine at the veterinary faculty of the Freie Universität Berlin.
- RESOURCES:
- "An Inside Look at the Embryo Transplant That May Help Save the Northern White Rhino," by Jeffrey Kluger (TIME, 2024).
- "Mud, Bugs, and Dung: How Rhinos Shape Their World," by Rinjan Shrestha (World Wildlife Fund, 2022).
- "The Last Two Northern White Rhinos On Earth," by Sam Anderson (The New York Times Magazine, 2021).
- "Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cells From the White Rhinoceros," by Thomas B. Hildebrandt, Robert Hermes, Cesare Galli, et al. (Nature Communications, 2018).
- "Loss of a Species – A Giant, Extinct," by Thomas Hildebrandt (TED, 2017).
- Colossal.