All language subtitles for The Last Rhinos A New Hope 2025 1080p DSNP WEB-DL DD 5 1 H 264-playWEB33

Fatu... Come on, guy.

Here.

These are the last two
northern white rhinos on earth.

Their names are Najin and Fatu.

Hi, hi. Good Girl.

She loves to be stroked
behind the ears and, um...

...under the belly also,
just like here.

Yeah, I've had her for 15 years,

so we are
good friends.

Good girl, Najin.

But because of human failure,

human greed, the result is
just only the two we have.

Najin, she's 31 years old.

That is like about six
years in human lifetime.

And her daughter,
she's 20 years.

So they are mother
and daughter,

watching each other get
older every day with no new

babies to teach and care for.

Hi, Fatu. Hi, Fatu.

She's had some good
mud baths, it looks like.

In the early 1900s,

there were thousands
of northern white rhinos

roaming the plains
of Central Africa.

But due to poaching,
that number was down to only

15 by the 1980s.

Today, there are only
these last two females left.

I've been following this
story for over 15 years,

documenting a team called
BioRescue as they attempt a new

scientific procedure to save
the northern white rhino here

on a protected
preserve in Kenya.

- You see the young
21-year-old female and then

the 32-year-old female.

So it's a clear
difference in body shape.

We have a clock ticking on
us always with this project.

The last two northern
white rhinos are getting old.

They will not be here forever.

The males are already gone.

There's no natural
breeding anymore.

The only chance
would be via IVF.

IVF is a reproductive
procedure where eggs and sperm

are combined in a laboratory.

The embryo is then implanted
into the uterus of the mother

to grow into a baby.

But IVF in a rhino has
never been done before.

The first step is
collecting oocytes, or eggs,

from the last living
northern white rhinos.

That's what the scientists
will attempt to do tomorrow.

She's beautiful.
Beautiful lady.

And hopefully you
will have a baby soon.

We are scientists
doing a procedure which was

never done before.

And if we fail, then the
northern white rhino is gone.

And that is on our shoulders.

My colleagues and I have poured
our life into this project,

so tomorrow is a very big day.

The night before
the ovum pick-up is

always quite challenging.

You have all these
ideas what can go wrong.

If we make a mistake,

it can have such
consequences that

there is an internal bleeding,

there is an anesthesia
which is too deep and

the animal never wakes up again.

The first thing
we do is to check

how they're doing.

We don't want him to be nervous.

Fatu, come on, Fatu.

Zacharia, you
can feel his stress.

He knows what the stakes are.

This is like his baby.

Fatu.

I've looked after
them for 11 years,

and they do recognize my voice.

This way. One more. OK.

OK, wait.
Wait, wait, wait.

OK, let her go.

Back.

Yeah, that's fine. That's fine.
Leave her.

Make sure that she stacks
the horn in the corner.

That's fine.
Leave her like this.

Cool, guys.

The anesthesia is a
really important piece of it.

This is what Frank does.

If he doesn't get the
formula exactly right,

these animals can die.

Two milligram deto,
100 milligram ketamine.

Okay, you can go higher now.

These procedures
can be incredibly risky.

I mean, can you imagine
a 2,000-pound animal with

a horn waking up?

Oxygen is deep in.

We had some accidents.

I lost a disc in my backbone
because working with elephants.

I broke my collarbone
with a rhino.

So there's some risk,

but we have to know that
our patient is dangerous.

It's not a teddy bear.

But doing this procedure
is for us the only chance.

This one, small one.

There's two, actually.

Have you seen that?
Next to each other. Yeah.

Remember that
this ovary is down on the

lower side, yeah?

Yeah. Okay.

Is this left or right?

Left, and
it's on the lower side.

Okay.

Good.
Good for the kids.

Yep. Perfect.

Okay guys,
crossed one hour border time.

They're keeping
close track of the time.

You know, they can't
keep her under anesthesia

for that long.

Okay, stop. Yep.

Okay, okay. Very good.

Okay, let's go.

At the end, when we
finish the harvest,

the second phase happens,
and we have to find the oocyte.

Searching for the eggs or
oocyte takes place in a form of

shipping container,
which gets very hot.

And also, it is very
attractive for flies,

and you have to focus very
strongly on the microscope.

You play with the light and
then suddenly you see this

purple light coming out
of a cell and then you know

that is what you want.

Is that a good one?

- Yeah.
- Yeah, it looks good.

That is what we do.

The reason why we are here.

This is the beginning
of new life.

Robert, 19 oocytes.

Yay!

Good.

Best result ever.

Yes!

Yep.

19 oocytes means 19
potential chances to create

new baby northern white rhinos.

Your hard work paid off.
She is healthy.

We never had such
result before.

Never.
The best in any rhino.

We are extremely grateful.

Okay, now I have to
pack again, sorry.

Sorry, that is the second part.

Otherwise we miss our
flight and lose our harvest.

Okay.

As soon as they're done,
it's complete chaos.

They quickly get all
their suitcases and then

whizzed to the airport.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a race against the
clock to deliver the eggs to

the lab in Italy
and turn those oocytes

into viable embryos.

We have maximum
48-hours after collection

when the oocyte
needs to be processed.

Otherwise, the
project will fail.

I have been
documenting the story of

the northern white rhino
since 2009.

I have probably made 40
trips which I have largely

self-funded because this
is one of the most important

stories of our lifetime.

My goal is to reach as many
people as possible and inspire

them to care.

Hello!

Hello, SLO!

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. Wow.
I thank you all for coming out.

I am so excited to be back here.

Back in 2009, I met a
rhinoceros named Sudan

for the first time.

And quite unexpectedly,
this gentle,

hulking creature changed
the way I see the world.

I literally felt like I
had just seen a unicorn.

I was so moved by him, and
I couldn't believe that we,

humanity, had
reduced them to this.

The world's last
male northern white rhino

has died.

A wildlife conservancy
in Kenya says the

45-year-old rhino
named Sudan died from

age-related complications.

Sudan was euthanized
after his condition

worsened significantly.

I cared for Sudan
every day for almost 10 years.

He was so special
because he knew he was so

strong and so powerful.

But I think he also
knew he needed our help.

I can still remember the
last day we lost him.

Everything stands still.

The moment
when Sudan died,

the last male
northern white rhino,

it was just this realization
that this is what we've done.

I only took two frames of that
because I didn't want the sound

of my camera to disturb the
sacredness of the moment.

And that picture,

I never expected
it to be so symbolic.

I think people saw it and
recognized it's our last chance.

It was actually Sudan's
death that was a real spark.

Everybody began to understand
there's no more time.

After the eggs are extracted,
they have to be fertilized

within 48 hours.

Cesare's laboratory is amazing.

There's this high-tech
thing going on,

but then right outside are
all of these cloned animals.

That's where you get
this feeling like, oh,

we're playing God here.

But this technology means
saving the northern white rhino

just might be possible.

The eggs will be
fertilized with a sperm which

comes from two different bulls.

Both are passed away,
one in 2015, one in 2014.

It's quite a
challenging operation.

The sperm which is
injected will develop into

this new cell and then
new life starts to grow.

The miracle of life is
something that is so fragile.

It can be destroyed so easily.

Rhinos survive for millions
of years against drought,

predators, and the
forces of nature.

But in just a few decades,

humans nearly
wiped them out.

Now every day that passes
without a new baby on the

ground is one day closer
to the northern white rhino

being gone forever.

So there's always this
clock ticking on us.

And our time is almost up.

This is how we
imagine wildlife roaming the

open plains of Africa.

That's not actually what
it's like today for rhinos.

This is what it's like.

They have to be guarded
around the clock 24-7 by

heavily militarized men
because the value of their horn

is worth more than gold.

They are being
poached to extinction.

And it's not just the
northern white rhino.

It was just announced
that we have lost 73% of the

world's wildlife
in the last 50 years.

I just could not stop
thinking about this.

And I started researching
and reading everything

I could about this story.

I wanted to understand,
what do we do?

Is there hope?

How do we stop this?

And I just started asking
one simple question,

which I could not find
in any of the stories.

What do the people who live
right next to the animals think?

Do they care about them?

And actually, it has led me
down this amazing path of

finding the most extraordinary
people that do care.

We can often forget that the
best protectors are those

people who are living
alongside the animals.

They are the ones out
there fighting that fight

every single day.

My family lives
in the northern part of Mara.

It can take me like
ten to twelve hours by bus.

It's quite distant.
I do spend most of my time here.

This is Brenda and
this is Yvonne...

They are my two
beautiful daughters.

My last time since I've
been with them is almost

two months now.

Sometimes it's very hard...

but sometimes we
have to accept it.

It's more like
having two families.

I have my immediate
family at home...

and my second
family is the rhino.

And I have to care
for all of them.

The weight is on our shoulders.

And the whole world
is watching us.

There are only two
animals on earth capable of

providing the eggs
needed to make

northern white rhino embryos.

But even that is
in jeopardy now.

We know that she has
issues in her reproductive tract

for a long time.

Everything's done.

All is done?

Everything's done.

She has benign tumors and
potentially malignant tumors

that are in the uterus.

One of these tumors
may even become malignant,

so that's the risk we
don't want to take.

The results of
Nadine's recent health check

shows that sadly she is too
sick to provide any more eggs

to the program.

So the number of new
embryos we can make now rests

solely on Fatu.

The extinction of this
species is on a razor's edge.

Every day that passes is
one day closer to losing the

last northern white
rhinos on Earth.

I remember the
first time I saw a rhino,

it was so exciting.

My father used to
work in Ol Pejeta as a fencer...

and I got to visit when
I was very young...

and that's how I started
building up

being a conservationist.

I want these rhinos
to be here for my daughters.

And for the next generation.

Only five rhino
species remain on Earth.

Three are in Asia,
and two are in Africa.

Losing any of these rhino
species brings us one step

closer to losing
all rhinos forever.

Unfortunately, neither
of the last two surviving

northern white rhinos

are healthy enough
to carry their own pregnancy.

Saving the northern white rhino
depends on scientists

using closely related southern
white rhino females as

surrogate mothers to carry the
embryos created in the lab to a

full-term pregnancy.

But none of this has
ever been done before.

It's a scientific first.

The best time
to implant a rhino embryo...

is at the peak of the surrogate
female's fertility cycle.

Mating behavior tells us
when this is happening.

Right there are the two
surrogates and the teaser bull.

The one by himself on
the left is the male.

When the teaser
bull starts mating...

we know it's the right
time to do the implantation

of the embryos.

The teaser bull is
a sterilized male...

So he still mates,
but it can't make the

surrogate mothers pregnant.

I think one of the
surrogates is ready...

I can see the male is
just following them behind...

And this is a really good sign.

This tells us that it
is the perfect time to

implant the embryo.

Now my job is to call the
team and tell them to get here

as fast as they can.

We're in Amsterdam.
I'm about to board the plane.

This has been the
most stressful and also

exciting 24 hours.

I got a call.

I was in the middle of
a talk in California,

scrambled to get here,
and it is just so exciting.

We're at the enclosure now.

We're driving up to the
northern white rhinos.

And right next door to them
are the southern white rhinos.

And the sun is coming up.

And there's just so
much anticipation.

Here we are.

Good morning, everyone.

We are extremely proud
to be here today because

it will be the first
time that an embryo from

a rhino source will be
implanted into a wild rhino.

That is a very big step.

50 milligram
butorphanol,

which is five milliliter
from this stuff.

We agreed in a quite
intensive discussion that it

would be more wise to use a

southern white
rhino embryo first.

If the embryo transfer of
our southern white rhino

embryos is successful,

then we would continue with the
northern white rhino embryos.

Everything of these
steps are new ground,

and therefore it is so
important to, to practice.

It's a little bit like
sending a man to the moon,

because as everyone knows,

not all of these missions
were successful.

Okay, let's go.

Okay, good luck.
Good luck.

And don't
miss your shot!

Little prayer?

Yeah, prayer?
Now it's your turn.

I do it inside.

Yeah, I do it inside.

It has to work.

Ready to go?

Can you see
where they are?

Get ready.
She is the one at the back.

You darted?
Yes.

Go away, go away.

Tell people to move away so
the tranquilizer doesn't fail.

Okay.

Can we bring the tent?

And more here, here.

Frank,
what's the time right now?

It's 36.

The clock is running.

Now
it's very sensitive phase.

Give the ketamine, please.

I'm in.

OK.

We are in
with the needle.

And now we have to concentrate.
One hundred milligram ketamine.

And now let's
implant the embryo.

Yes, yes, yes...

It's working now...

It's working now...

It's there. Good!

Thomas, success?

We will see.

An international
team of scientists has

successfully implanted an embryo
into a southern white rhino

for the first time.

It's a historic
international effort from teams

all across the world,

working quickly to save a
species before it's too late.

The procedure
was carried out with

southern white rhinos,

which are closely
related to northern whites.

The surrogate in Kenya
is healthy and 70 days

into its pregnancy.

Now it is a waiting
game to see if it's actually

possible to grow a healthy
baby rhino via IVF.

But on a personal level,
putting so much time and energy

into this project has been
especially difficult recently.

My wife is a cancer patient,

and she had finished
her first chemotherapy

in May last year.

But unfortunately and
very tragically it turned out

she had a relapse of
her cancer and it is

not treatable anymore.

So she will die soon.

But we both agreed that this
is important for both of us.

It's a mission we want
to achieve together.

So that is our agreement
and that is my dream.

I think all these wonderful
people working with us,

they have the same mission.

We have to provide
the final proof.

When the first northern
white rhino calf is born,

I think I can relax a
little bit more and give the...

...the flag to someone else.

But first we have
to achieve that.

Last time I was here,
I had to race to the airport,

fly to Kenya, and they
implanted that embryo into the

southern white rhino surrogate.

But then something
terrible happened.

Six weeks after the procedure,

we got word that something
was wrong at the preserve.

Tragically, both rhinos died
before anyone could help.

It took weeks before
we really even understood

what had happened.

El Nino,
which is a climate phenomenon...

made by global warming...

produced so much
rain here in Kenya...

that the surface of the
soil was flushed away...

and hundred year old
carcasses...

mummies, buried by
the Maasais here...

were released and
in these mummies...

there are the bacteria which can
live up to five hundred ears.

And they release
extremely powerful toxin...

and this toxin killed
our rhinos in one hour.

In this tragic
moment came a ray of hope.

During the autopsy,

they found this viable
70-day-old male embryo

in her womb.

It was this
heartbreaking moment,

but at the same time,
this huge breakthrough.

Three and a half
years working very hard,

and that's really a milestone.

It's the first ever pregnancy
caused by an embryo transfer

in a rhino source.

In another
world first,

a southern white rhino
became pregnant by IVF,

but the mother and the
baby died from an infection.

Unfortunately, we
lost it when it was 70 days.

But this little baby provided
us with a complete success

story that everything
was working,

and we could start
immediately with the

northern white rhino embryos.

Now, next time we come
with very precious cargo.

The pregnancy
proved the process works.

But the loss of the surrogate
and teaser bull was a big hit

to the project.

It took months of work
on the ground in Kenya to get

the project back on track.

Introducing a new southern
white rhino surrogate.

And then capturing and
sterilizing a new teaser bull.

Now we are finally ready to
bring a new northern white rhino

baby into the world.

We begin by preparing the
frozen embryos for the long

trip to Kenya.

I have a number 2.

Can you write that?

- Yeah.
- 2 minus 3, 1.

Everything is very fragile.

If they heat up, they are dead.

Okay, perfect.

A lot of pressure.

A lot of pressure
on our shoulders.

Now the stakes are much
higher using the precious

northern white rhino embryos
for the first time ever.

It's easy for people who may
not be close to these animals

to think that these are
habituated creatures.

They're not.

These were wild rhinos
that we are working with.

You realize so many
things have to be perfectly

in place for it to go right,

and it doesn't take a lot
for things to go wrong.

There is Jomo,
the sterilized male.

It's really huge male.

Our new
teaser bull, Jomo.

He's not approachable
like the other one.

And he is known for
ramming vehicles.

So we have to do the darting
this time by helicopter.

Julia is with you and has
prepared the ketamine dart.

The plan is to dart
the female so we can perform

the embryo
implantation procedure.

And hopefully we can
keep Jomo away without having

to dart him.

He wants to be near the female,

but it's too dangerous
during the procedure.

So we are a little bit
under time pressure.

Our team is already in the air.

As soon as they
dart the female,

we have 30 minutes to
thaw the frozen embryo and

get it implanted.

That's Jomo there...

Okay, just get as
close as you can to the female.

Got it?

Yeah!

You have
a second dart yeah?

The first dart
only slows her down.

It takes two darts to
put her on the ground.

The first dart is in...

so we're just going for
the second dart now.

Okay, got it.
So first dart is in,

and we start thawing an embryo.
Thanks.

Second dart is in.

Jomo is running
away now as well.

We're clear.
He has left the area.

The surrogate is down,
the bull is away,

and now Frank is
preparing the anesthesia.

Yeah.

Can we have some water here
for, to clean the ear?

Yeah, yeah.

You okay?
You need help?

Yeah.

Wait. Push it a
little bit over there.

Get the leg out.

Okay guys.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.
Get the leg out.

Yeah, good.

Yeah, have a look, wait.

So we get a
call and then we start our

procedure here and
joining them very soon

for the transfer.

Bottom left.
So diagonally down. Left.

Do you see anything?

Keep pushing.
No, in the other direction.

In the other direction.
Am I in?

This perfect
little embryo,

which is barely
visible with the eye,

to thaw it in a safe way,
it is very stressful, yes.

There it is.

Yes, perfect. OK.

Embryo
delivery is coming!

High up. High up.

We have
in our catheter,

this little tiny 100
micrometer big object which

we transfer into this
gigantic uterus.

It's a very
complicated procedure.

So we are aware that every
step of that is so sensitive,

it can easily fail.

It's a very tense procedure
for everyone involved.

Left, right?

Right.

Do you think so?

Yeah.

It's
up there on the right.

There it is.
There it is. Okay.

Okay, I'm at the limit.

Hold it there,
keep it steady.

Pregnant!

Pregnant for sure.

The embryo is in.
She's pregnant!

It's in, yeah.

The embryo was
released and this incredible

moment we have all been
dreaming of for so long has

finally been achieved.

We placed it in an
optimal position,

so we are quite hopeful that
this first attempt in the world

ever has success.

Now it's on nature and
praying and we will see

what, what happens.

This moment, I haven't
actually fully processed it yet.

Today, I am reminded that it
takes these kinds of people

reimagining a world
where we can save species

literally from the
brink of extinction.

Historical moment.

Good. Now...

Always rain is good.

I hope it's a good
sign for the embryo.

It's sort of a blessing.

I'm dreaming that
we will see many,

many more of these beautiful...

northern white rhinos alive
on the Earth once again.