Rhino species to die unless science can help after Prague-to-Kenya effort fails to bear calf

In this photo taken Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014, keeper Mohamed Doyo walks with female northern white rhino Fatu as she is let out of her pen to graze, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The keepers of three of the last six northern white rhinos on Earth said Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 that it is highly unlikely the three will ever reproduce naturally, with recent medical examinations of them showing the species is doomed to extinction, unless science can help. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (The Associated Press)

In this photo taken Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, keeper Zachariah Mutai brings hay to eat for female northern white rhino Fatu, in her pen where she is being kept for observation at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The keepers of three of the last six northern white rhinos on Earth said Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 that it is highly unlikely the three will ever reproduce naturally, with recent medical examinations of them showing the species is doomed to extinction, unless science can help. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (The Associated Press)

In this photo taken Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, female northern white rhino Fatu walks in her pen where she is being kept for observation at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The keepers of three of the last six northern white rhinos on Earth said Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 that it is highly unlikely the three will ever reproduce naturally, with recent medical examinations of them showing the species is doomed to extinction, unless science can help. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (The Associated Press)

The keepers of three of the last six northern white rhinos on Earth say it is highly unlikely the three will ever reproduce naturally.

Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy announced Wednesday that recent medical examinations of the three show the species is doomed to extinction, unless science can help. A park official says in vitro fertilization and genetics-based science known as de-extinction are being examined.

Five years ago four northern white rhinos were flown from a zoo in Prague to Kenya where it was hoped that the natural environment could lead to a pregnancy. One of the two males died earlier this year of an unknown cause. The other three are effectively infertile.

Though the northern white rhino is nearly extinct, southern white rhinos and black rhinos are not.