Budapest, Hungary – Lulu and Easyboy were more like siblings than lovers, so Budapest Zoo officials resorted to in-vitro fertilization to get her pregnant.
Now, 16 months later, the world’s first rhino conceived artificilly has been born, zoo officials said Wednesday. The unnamed female weighed in at 128 pounds when she was born Tuesday.
“The little one seemed active and vital. An hour after being born it stood up on its own legs,” a zoo statement said.
The mother, 26-year-old Lulu, had failed to conceive naturally, even when put with a male rhino named Easyboy. A group of veterinarians from Germany, Austria and Hungary started in-vitro fertilization, and she finally became pregnant in 2005.
The proud mother has been protective of her newborn but hasn’t nursed the baby. The zoo said she had also turned aggressive, but added that an initial refusal to feed was natural with inexperienced mother rhinos.
Until Lulu gets the hang of things, the baby rhino is being fed by zoo workers.
