5-Nov-09 2:00 PM CST

Zoo Hoping Rhino's 2nd Pregnancy Will Succeed

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo is hoping a rhino's second pregancy will result in what officials say would be the world's first live birth of an Indian rhinoceros conceived through artificial insemination.

Zoo officials also say a successful delivery for 18-year-old Nikki would result in the first such calf produced using frozen and thawed sperm.

The nearly 2-ton rhino gave birth to a stillborn calf in 2008. The new delivery is expected in October 2010.

Nikki is on loan from the Toronto Zoo and is 133 days into a 480-day gestation period. The sperm came from a 38-year-old Indian rhino at the Bronx Zoo.

Male Indian rhinos have been known to injure females in natural breeding. The Indian rhino is ranked vulnerable on a threatened species list.

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