Michaela Strachan believes it would be better for Earth’s animals to be wiped out by a comet if the future of the planet’s endangered species is to be bred in test tubes.
The British TV presenter was left heartbroken back in March when the world’s last surviving male northern white rhino Sudan died at the age of 45 at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya – an animal she and her partner Nick Chevallier and their son Oliver, 13, previously had been to visit.
Plans are now underway to try and revive the species by using frozen northern white rhinoceros sperm and eggs harvested from the two living females Fatu and Najin to create animals in a lab.
However, Michaela believes any attempt to bring back the near-extinct species is a waste of money and she thinks if Earth’s animals are to be created by scientists in the future than it is better that life was wiped out just like the dinosaurs were 66 million years ago.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, she said: "When I said it was a waste of money to make the northern white rhino again, a couple of charities tweeted me to say, ‘We think you’re really wrong with your attitude,’ but I’m not alone in that attitude. They said that this could be the future of many of our species. If the future of our species is that we’re breeding them in test tubes then let’s hope a meteor comes and gets rid of all of us, or a comet just comes and blows us all up because we will have really got into a desperate state of affairs if that’s the case. It’s really bleak.
"When you get down to those numbers, then conservation is pointless … that’s millions and millions of dollars that they’re using and I think you’re better off putting that money into saving animals that have a viable population rather than bringing something back, it’s gone now."
The ‘Autumnwatch’ host admits she cried when she read that Sudan had died as it meant that the species was going to die out but she still thinks it’s wrong to try and bring that animal back.
She added: "When I read on my computer that the northern white rhino had gone I sat at my computer and cried and just thought, ‘It should never have ever got this low.’ This is an iconic species and we’ve let it go. The biggest problems for most of these animals is because of habitat loss, pollution and poaching."
Michaela is currently working with Old Mout Cider on a campaign to save New Zealand’s indigenous kiwi bird from possible extinction.
The kiwi population has declined by 99 per cent over the past 50 years and it could die out in the next 50 if its plight is not addressed with the introduction of predator-free islands.
Old Mout Cider has also released new research that reveals that 46 countries’ national animals are on the IUCN ‘Red List’ of vulnerable, threatened and endangered species, including New Zealand’s famous kiwi bird. The full list of 46 countries includes England and Wales, whose national animals – the lion and red kite – are listed as vulnerable and near threatened respectively.
Old Mout Cider is asking Britons to help to save the iconic animal by signing up to its mission – and for every single person that signs up online, 20p will be donated by Old Mout to Kiwis for kiwi to save the kiwi bird https://www.oldmoutcider.co.uk/signup
Michaela Strachan fears for future of endangered species
