Two of a Kind: Najin and Fatu, the Last Northern White Rhinos

Fatu, right, and her mother Najin are the only northern white rhinos left on the planet - AFP
Fatu, right, and her mother Najin are the only northern white rhinos left on the planet - AFP
TT

Two of a Kind: Najin and Fatu, the Last Northern White Rhinos

Fatu, right, and her mother Najin are the only northern white rhinos left on the planet - AFP
Fatu, right, and her mother Najin are the only northern white rhinos left on the planet - AFP

Najin spends a lot of time by herself these days because her rebellious daughter prefers to hang out with her best friend.

This might sound like a common parental complaint, but Najin has a particularly strong argument -- she and her daughter are the only members of their species left on Earth.

They are the last two northern white rhinos, which have been considered functionally extinct since Najin's father, Sudan, died in 2018.

Uterus problems mean neither can give birth, so scientists are trying in-vitro fertilisation to bring northern whites back from the brink.

Earlier this month, AFP met the two rhinos inside their heavily guarded enclosure in Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

- Najin, the lonely mum -

Both Najin and her daughter were born in captivity in a Czech zoo before being moved to Ol Pejeta in 2009.

Najin has bad knees owing to her time in captivity, and her horn droops forward.

She is also prone to bouts of flatulence.

At 35 years old, she is only expected to live another five to 10 years.

"I'm getting a little bit worried," admitted head caregiver Zacharia Mutai, who spends 12 hours with the rhinos most days.

"They have different personalities just like human beings," he told AFP.

Najin is his "favourite" because she stays so calm, he said.

At one point, the inquisitive rhino lumbered up to inspect a camera tripod, sending AFP's correspondents scampering.

Najin also inspected a nearby car in the 700-acre enclosure.

The rhinos are under 24-hour protection, with a watchtower, armed guards and sniffer dogs to deter poachers who have hunted northern whites to the brink of extinction.

There has been no poaching at Ol Pejeta for seven years, Mutai said. The only intruders in the enclosure are now antelopes that nimbly leap over the fence, and some wandering warthogs.

But aside from Mutai, Najin seems to spend most of her time by herself.

- Fatu, the grumpy teen -

Born in 2000, Fatu was much younger when she came to Ol Pejeta and has embraced being wild more than her mother.

She spends almost all her time with Tawu, a wild southern white rhino introduced to demonstrate life outside a zoo.

Southern whites are a closely related subspecies that had their own brush with extinction in the 1800s, but now number more than 15,000.

They look similar -- both are grey, not white -- but the northern subspecies are smaller, with fluffier ears and slightly longer tails.

Fatu, who turns 25 in June, was initially quite friendly when she arrived at Ol Pejeta.

She has become "a little bit grumpy" and "behaves sort of like a human teenager", said Mutai.

Fatu sometimes tries to fight Najin, forcing the rangers to trim her horn so she does not wound her mother.

She also has the fate of her kind resting on her shoulders.

Fatu once tried to mate, but it turned out there was a problem with her uterus.

Unlike Najin, she still has viable eggs that can be fertilised with the sperm of dead males.

Fatu must be fully sedated each time scientists collect her eggs.

That has happened more than 20 times, making her probably the most sedated rhino in history, but Fatu remains in perfect health, said Jan Stejskal, coordinator of the BioRescue project aiming to save the northern white.

The scientists plan to start implanting the first northern white embryos in a southern white rhino surrogate female this year.

If successful, it would give Fatu and Najin a new purpose: to show the baby how to be a northern white rhino, so this is not lost to time.

It is a "huge responsibility", Mutai said, adding: "I think we are going to succeed."



Saudi National Center for Wildlife, Soudah Development Company Release Birds of Prey

The release comes as part of reintroduction programs aimed at enhancing ecological balance and restoring biodiversity in one of the Kingdom’s most prominent mountainous environmental zones - SPA
The release comes as part of reintroduction programs aimed at enhancing ecological balance and restoring biodiversity in one of the Kingdom’s most prominent mountainous environmental zones - SPA
TT

Saudi National Center for Wildlife, Soudah Development Company Release Birds of Prey

The release comes as part of reintroduction programs aimed at enhancing ecological balance and restoring biodiversity in one of the Kingdom’s most prominent mountainous environmental zones - SPA
The release comes as part of reintroduction programs aimed at enhancing ecological balance and restoring biodiversity in one of the Kingdom’s most prominent mountainous environmental zones - SPA

Saudi Arabia's National Center for Wildlife (NCW), in cooperation with Soudah Development Company, has released a number of birds of prey in Al-Soudah Park, including three griffon vultures, a black kite, an Arabian scops owl, and an Eurasian sparrowhawk, after rehabilitating them at shelter centers.

 

The release comes as part of reintroduction programs aimed at enhancing ecological balance and restoring biodiversity in one of the Kingdom’s most prominent mountainous environmental zones, SPA reported.

This release followed the completion of rehabilitation and environmental acclimatization stages to ensure the birds’ readiness and ability to adapt to the nature of the area, contributing to the stability of local species and boosting their ecological roles within mountain ecosystems, particularly in regulating food chains and preserving the health of natural habitats.

The NCW noted that this step falls within its ongoing programs to breed and reintroduce threatened wildlife species, rehabilitate ecosystems, and enrich biodiversity across various regions of the Kingdom, in cooperation with national partners and in line with the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative and the National Environment Strategy, which support the environmental development goals of the Saudi Vision 2030.

Specialized teams will continue to monitor the released birds and track their movements and ecological behavior using dedicated tools and technologies, supporting the evaluation of the program’s success and the improvement of its outcomes in the future in accordance with the best global environmental practices.


Ariane 6 Lifts Off with 2 European Navigation Satellites

The European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket carrying two Galileo satellites for the the EU's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) launches at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, on the French overseas department of Guiana, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Ronan LIETAR / AFP)
The European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket carrying two Galileo satellites for the the EU's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) launches at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, on the French overseas department of Guiana, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Ronan LIETAR / AFP)
TT

Ariane 6 Lifts Off with 2 European Navigation Satellites

The European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket carrying two Galileo satellites for the the EU's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) launches at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, on the French overseas department of Guiana, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Ronan LIETAR / AFP)
The European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket carrying two Galileo satellites for the the EU's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) launches at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, on the French overseas department of Guiana, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Ronan LIETAR / AFP)

A European Ariane 6 rocket blasted off from France's Kourou space base in French Guiana early Wednesday, carrying two Galileo global navigation satellites, according to an AFP correspondent.

Lift-off was at 2:01 am local time (0501 GMT) for the fourth commercial flight of the Ariane 6 launch system since the expendable rockets came into service last year.

The rocket was carrying two more satellites of the European Union's Galileo program, a global navigation satellite system that aims to make the bloc less dependent on the US's Global Positioning System (GPS).

The two satellites were set to be placed in orbit nearly four hours after lift-off.

They will bring to 34 the number of Galileo satellites in orbit and "will improve the robustness of the Galileo system by adding spares to the constellation to guarantee the system can provide 24/7 navigation to billions of users. The satellites will join the constellation in medium Earth orbit 23, 222 km (14,429 miles) above Earth’s surface," according to the European Space Agency (ESA) which oversees the program.

Previous Galileo satellites were primarily launched by Ariane 5 and Russian Soyuz rockets from Kourou.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Europe halted space cooperation with Moscow.

Before the Ariane 6 rocket entered into service in July 2024, the EU contracted with Elon Musk's SpaceX to launch two Galileo satellites aboard Falcon 9 rockets in September 2024 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Delhi Restricts Vehicles, Office Attendance in Bid to Curb Pollution

Children ride a bicycle across a field on smoggy winter morning in New Delhi on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
Children ride a bicycle across a field on smoggy winter morning in New Delhi on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
TT

Delhi Restricts Vehicles, Office Attendance in Bid to Curb Pollution

Children ride a bicycle across a field on smoggy winter morning in New Delhi on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
Children ride a bicycle across a field on smoggy winter morning in New Delhi on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

Authorities in India's capital Delhi rolled out strict measures on Wednesday in an attempt to curb pollution, including a ban on vehicles not compliant with latest emission control norms and regulating attendance in private and government offices.

The air quality index (AQI) in the Delhi region, home to 30 million people, has been in the 'severe' category for the past few days, often crossing the 450-mark. In addition, shallow fog in parts of the city worsened visibility that impacted flights and trains.

This prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management to invoke stage four, the highest level, of the Graded Response Action Plan for Delhi and surrounding areas on Saturday.

The curbs ban the entry of older diesel trucks into the city, suspend construction, including on public projects, and impose hybrid schooling, Reuters reported.

Kapil Mishra, a minister in the local government, announced on Wednesday that all private and government offices in the city would operate with 50% attendance, with the remaining working from home.

Additionally, all registered construction workers, many of them earning daily wages, will be given compensation of 10,000 rupees ($110) because of the ban, Mishra said at a press conference in Delhi.

On Tuesday, the government enforced strict anti-pollution measures for vehicles in the city, banning vehicles that are not compliant with the latest emission control standards.

"Our government is committed to providing clean air in Delhi. We will take strict steps to ensure this in the coming days," Delhi's Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said late on Tuesday.

Pollution is an annual winter problem in Delhi and its suburbs, when cold, dense air traps emissions from vehicles, construction sites and crop burning in neighboring states, pushing pollution levels to among the highest in the world and exposing residents to severe respiratory risks.

The area, home to 30 million people, gets covered in a thick layer of smog with AQI touching high 450-levels. Readings below 50 are considered good.