CREMONA, Italy (AP) — An international consortium of scientists and conservationists says they have succeeded in creating two embryos of the near-extinct northern white rhino, a milestone in assisted reproduction that may be a pivotal turning point in the fate of the species.

The embryos were created in-vitro, using eggs collected from the two remaining females and frozen sperm from dead males, they said at a news conference in the Italian northern city of Cremona on Wednesday.

The embryos are now stored in liquid nitrogen to be transferred into a surrogate mother in the near future.