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10/27/2025

12/08/2024

12/08/2024

National Geographic photographers ventured to places far and wide to capture the year’s most fascinating images. Out of more than 2.3 million photos, 20 were selected as our Pictures of the Year. See them all at: https://on.natgeo.com/4eWpEz3

Ami Vitale photographed a 70-day-old fetus of a rhino conceived through in vitro fertilization. In January, scientists announced that they had for the first time achieved a pregnancy after using IVF to transfer a southern white rhino embryo into a southern white rhino surrogate. But before scientists could confirm the pregnancy, the surrogate mother died from an unrelated bacterial infection. A necropsy revealed that she was pregnant. While the moment was “heartbreaking,” Ami Vitale says, it proved that IVF is viable in rhinos. The team has plans to try again in early 2025, this time transferring a northern white rhino embryo into a southern white rhino surrogate. Vitale’s work documenting steps to save northern white rhinos over the past 15 years is featured in “Explorer: Rhino Resurrection,” a forthcoming National Geographic film.

12/08/2024