China's youngest artificially-bred baby white rhino makes public debut

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Weighing 445kg, "Da Zhuang" is only nine months old.

As China's youngest artificially-bred baby white rhino, he started group life this month at a safari park in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and met the public for the very first time.

"We chose this time to let him live in a group because he's now heavy enough," said Chen Siming, a white Rhino keeper. "If a baby rhino is too small, he'll easily get hurt by adult rhinos. Now we see he fits in quite well."

Da Zhuang starts group life in a safari park in Guangzhou. /CGTN Photo

White rhinos are listed as a threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to years of poaching, a loss of habitat, and a low fertility rate.

Currently there're around 20,000 white rhinos in the world, with two kinds of breeds – the southern ones like Da Zhuang; and the northern ones. The situation for the latter is difficult.

In March 2018, the world's last individual male of the northern white rhinos died in Kenya, survived by only his wife and daughter.

This ultimately puts the species on the brink of extinction.

Experts are trying in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to save the northern breed.

But their efforts have come with little to no success.

The least they can do for now is to focus on better protecting the southern counterparts.

The average life expectancy of a southern white rhino is about 35 to 40 years. /CGTN Photo

China makes big efforts in artificial breeding of the species.

Now about 30 southern white rhinos live in Guangzhou. However, the reproduction rate remains low, as the species' pregnancy lasts as long as one and a half years.

So far there have been four artificially-bred white rhinos in the park, with Da Zhuang's father being the first.

"Da Zhuang is the second generation of the artificially-bred white rhinos, it's the first case in China, and that means big progress in terms of the species' reproduction. Next, he will learn from adult rhinos on how to behave and interact," said Chen.

Da Zhuang and his mother. /CGTN Photo

More good news is coming.

Another two female rhinos in the safari park are now pregnant, and they're expected to give birth in late 2019 and early 2020.

(Lai Shiwen also contributed to this story.)