A southern white rhino conceived by artificial insemination was born Sunday at the California Zoo in San Diego, whose leaders hailed a "historic step" in the preservation of this endangered species.
The last male died last year
Mum Victoria and her cub, a male, are doing well, the animal establishment said in a statement. "She is very attentive to her baby, who already walks and suckles regularly," reassured Barbara Durrant, in charge of breeding at the zoo. "This birth is all the more significant as it marks an important step in our efforts to save the northern white rhinoceros," the cousins of the southern white rhinos, who are about to die. she adds.
Indeed, only two northern white rhinos remain on Earth and both are females. The last male died last year. The wild population of southern white rhinos is estimated at around 18,000, but poachers are rapidly decreasing in southern Africa.
Other expected births
The successful artificial insemination of the Diego Zoo, a first in North America, offers hope. Scientists hope the technique will one day allow a female Southern White Rhinoceros to carry a small northern cousin through insemination of frozen sperm. "There are many challenges ahead, but researchers are hopeful that a baby will be born in the North with this procedure in 10 to 20 years," said the California Zoo.
Victoria and her baby will stay away from visitors for a while. And the little one might soon have a playmate: another artificially inseminated white rhino has to put down in the fall.
The Belgian animal park Pairi Daiza also announced on Wednesday that two southern white rhinoceros females, Elie and Madiba, are pregnant. Births, which are expected by the end of the year, do not innovate scientifically, but the park is delighted with this news. Elie already had a baby, Sethemba, born in 2016, who was transferred to a zoo in Malaga, Spain, as part of the European Captive Breeding Program.