Dvur Kralove nad Labem, East Bohemia, Dec 1 (CTK) – The Dvur Kralove zoo, which is one of the world´s three leading rhinoceros breeders outside Africa, has acquired a new male southern white rhinoceros which it wants to help renew the local breeding of the species, the zoo´s spokeswoman Simona Jirickova told CTK on Tuesday.
The eight-year-old male, called Pamir, was born in Africa in 2007. He has come to Dvur Kralove from Belgium, Jirickova said.
Pamir should form a breeding couple with the zoo´s female Jessica.
The zoo also keeps a 42-year-old male, but the last time it succeeded in raising offspring of the species was in the 1980s.
Apart from the three southern white rhinoceros, the zoo also breeds the black rhinoceros. The latest arrivals of this rare species are the two calves born in February.
Furthermore, the Dvur Kralove zoo owns the world´s three last surviving northern white rhinoceros.
The three, the male Sudan and females Najin and Fatu, have been living in the Ol Pejeta nature reserve in Kenya since 2009.
Experts have unsuccessfully tried to save the subspecies through insemination. At present, they consider an embryo transfer or planting a northern white rhino embryo in a surrogate mother from among southern white rhino females.
