Rhino Calf Explores Main Exhibit For First Time At Safari Park

ESCONDIDO, CA — A 22-day-old southern white rhino at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido took his first steps Monday into the main exhibit yard.

In his first foray out of the maternity area, Edward and his mother Victoria ran around the perimeter of the two-acre Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center for nearly 30 minutes, according to zookeepers. The pair had remained cordoned off since Edward's July 28 birth to allow them to bond and the 243-pound calf to build up stamina and weight. He weighed 148 pounds at birth.

"The second they entered the exhibit, Victoria just took off, running laps, and it was so fun to see Edward running right along beside her," Safari Park Senior Keeper Jill Van Kempen said. "He was very energetic, sometimes breathing heavily, and even getting all four feet off the ground at times."

After circling the enclosure, mother and son stopped to take a mud bath. The instinctive behavior keeps the rhinos cool while also acting as a bud repellant and sunscreen.

Edward is the 186th rhino born at the Safari Park, and the first southern white rhino born through artificial insemination in North America.

Victoria was the first rhino in San Diego Zoo Global's 103-year history to become pregnant through artificial insemination. Her pregnancy and Edward's birth was part of a larger effort to save the northern white rhino, a distant relative of the southern white rhino.

Only two northern white rhinos still exist and both are female. Researchers hope to bring the species back from the brink of extinction by using stem cells and preserved northern white rhino cells to birth a northern white rhino calf in the next 10 to 15 years, using southern white rhinos as surrogates.

If the plan proves successful, researchers could attempt similar assisted reproduction techniques with the critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinos.

On any given day, visitors to the Safari Park may be able to see Victoria and Edward from the Africa Tram, as their keepers rotate them, along with five other southern white rhinos at the Rhino Rescue Center, from the back area to the front exhibit yard.

Zoo officials previously announced that a second southern white rhino named Amani is pregnant. Her baby is expected to be born in September or October.

Also see:

• Rhino's Historic Birth Could Help Save Subspecies From Extinction
• Pregnant Rhino In San Diego Could Help Save Subspecies
• Second Southern White Rhino Pregnant At San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Big Delivery! Baby Elephant Born At San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Siamang Gibbon On Birth Control Surprises San Diego Zoo With Baby

City News Service and Kristina Houck/Patch contributed to this report.