On Sunday a female white rhino, named Victoria, gave birth to a healthy male calf in the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This was the first birth of a southern white rhino in North America conceived by artificial insemination. The zoo claims that it is an important step in saving the distantly related northern white rhino from extinction.
According to NBC News, Barbara Durrant, director of reproductive science at San Diego Zoo Global said, “all of us at San Diego Zoo Global are elated with the arrival of this special rhino calf.”
“Not only are we thankful for a healthy calf, but this birth is significant, as it also represents a critical step in our effort to save the northern white rhino from the brink of extinction,” said Durrant.
There are only two northern white rhinos alive, both of them female. The last male, named Sudan, died in 2018. According to Associated Press, ‘scientists had preserved frozen sperm samples from several males they are hoping to use to revive the species.’
Image: San Diego Zoo/ Facebook
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