Historic Birth of Southern White Rhino at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
San Diego Zoo Global is excited to announce a historic, successful birth of a southern white rhino calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park—the conservation organization’s first rhino born following hormone-induced ovulation and artificial insemination. The mother, Victoria, gave birth to a healthy male calf Sunday, July 28, 2019, in the barn at the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center. Animal care staff on hand to witness the birth reported Victoria did extremely well and remained calm during the 30-minute labor. The calf is nursing well, and mother and calf are bonding in a quiet nursing setting. Artificial insemination of southern white rhinos has rarely been successful; this is the first successful artificial insemination birth of a southern white rhino in North America.
San Diego Zoo Global has a history of expertise with rhino species. With the birth of this calf, there have now been 99 southern white rhinos born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in addition to births of 73 greater one-horned rhinos and 14 black rhinos at the Safari Park.
On any given day, visitors to the Safari Park may be able to see one or more of the southern white rhinos from the Africa Tram, as their keepers rotate them from the back area to the front Rhino Rescue Center exhibit yard. The public can help support San Diego Zoo Global’s rhino conservation efforts through the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy at endextinction.org/rhino or endextinction.org/Victoria.
As an international nonprofit organization, San Diego Zoo Global works to fight extinction through conservation efforts for plants and animals worldwide. With a history of leadership in species recovery and animal care, San Diego Zoo Global works with partners in science-based field programs on six continents, and maintains sanctuaries and public education facilities in many places. Inspiring a passion for nature is critical to saving species, and San Diego Zoo Global’s outreach efforts share the wonder of wildlife with millions of people every year. Current major conservation initiatives include fighting wildlife trafficking and the impacts of climate change on wildlife species; broad-spectrum species and habitat protection efforts in Kenya, in Peru and on islands worldwide; preventing extinction in our own backyard; and expanding efforts to bank critical genetic resources and apply them to the conservation of critically endangered species.
To learn more,about this visit sandiegozooglobal.org