Rhino in San Diego pregnant, could help save subspecies

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A southern white rhino named Victoria has become pregnant through artificial insemination at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

That’s given hope for efforts to save the northern white rhino subspecies of one of the world’s most recognizable animals.

Victoria’s 16 to 18 months of gestation will be watched closely by scientists.

She’s one of six southern white rhinos that the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation research is testing to determine if they are fit to be surrogate mothers.

Those rhinos could eventually be impregnated with eggs and sperm from northern white rhinos in an attempt to bring back that subspecies.

There are only two northern white rhinos alive in the world.

Both are in a Kenya wildlife preserve but are not believed capable of bearing calves.