6 white rhinos arrive in San Diego to be surrogate mothers

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Zoo has welcomed six southern white rhinos from South Africa in hopes they'll become surrogate mothers for the critically endangered northern white rhino.

Zoo officials said Friday that the six female southern white rhinos arrived to the zoo late Thursday after a 22-hour flight from Johannesburg. They were transported in individual crates and unloaded into fenced yards for a 30-day quarantine.

The rhinos are living at the zoo's new Rhino Rescue Center, built specifically for the six females. They will not be on public display.

The rhinos ate normally and slept for a good portion of their long flight, said Steve Metzler, interim associate curator of mammals at the zoo. Metzler was with the animals during the journey.

FULL story at link.



In this Dec. 31, 2014, file photo, Nola, a 40-year-old northern white rhino who is only one of five remaining of the species, wanders around her enclosure at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on a cold winter day in Escondido, Calif. Six female southern white rhinos arrived on a chartered MD11 flight from South Africa landed at the San Diego International Airport on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015. San Diego Zoo Global has one of the most successful rhino breeding programs in the world. To date, a total of 94 southern white rhinos, 68 greater one-horned rhinos and 14 black rhinos have been born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi, File)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/35d4d63ef6784d5bbb9322ae45315aae/6-white-rhinos-arrive-san-diego-be-surrogate-mothers

[avebury]

1. I thought that was only one white northern male

left and he is guarded 24/7 in Africa. There are pictures of him posted online quite often. I have not heard of any others so I am not sure how they plan on bringing back the northern white rhions.

[Sunlei]

3. They can artificial inseminate the remaining female, split the zygot and implant in the 6 females

This is common in the cattle/livestock breeding industry. We could have 6 or 7 Northern White babies soon. Hopefully they also have frozen semen/eggs from other unrelated rhinos to use in future.

[6chars]

2. For rhinos!

That's a relief. I was worried it was for some well-to-do California lawyers.

[swilton]

4. With the advanced technologies available

like artificial insemination, wouldn't it be safer to leave the animals in their own habitats and transport the veterinarians and zoologists to the rhinos?

I've seen the process going on with elephants at the National Zoo. At least with the elephants, the captive breeding programs worked initially in that they produced offspring. However, at the end of the day, the captive offspring succumbed to intestinal parasites - prevalent in captive elephants - and the captive bred elephants have less of a chance than do the elephants roaming in their native habitats.

[Sunlei]

6. The animals would be happiest in a habitat they were used to and was most comfortable to them.

Guess the female rhinos are 'safe' and very lucky they aren't surrogate livestock for factory farms, horse racing industry or Pharmaceutical Corporations.

[NickB79]

8. Poachers probably played a role in the decision

They are the reason rhinos are almost extinct in their own habitats in the first place.

[swilton]

9. If poachers are the problem then the solution should be

within country - and not this surrogate nonsense of transporting the rhinos to SD. There is some risk in the transportation. There are multiple ways of dealing with poaching none of which is being addressed by this initiative. There are ways there is just no will.

This initiative smacks me as promoting the zoo culture which is an antiquated Victorian past-time that is a bi-product of colonialism.

Sorry, I don't share in the enthusiasm. Been there done that and have seen with the examples of the Asian elephants that this is a false choice that does more harm than good.

[wordpix]

5. if we taxed the rich enough and didn't waste $ on the MIC

we could buy up habitat of the n. White Rhino and pay local people to protect them, maybe get ecotourism going after a herd is re-established.

[Sunlei]

7. The very wealthy do that now in many countries, except they usually sell expensive canned hunts too

[Mojorabbit]

10. What a bleak enclosure shown in the photo. nt