BUDAPEST, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- For the first time ever in Hungary, a baby Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) was born in the Zoo of Nyiregyhaza (East), Laszlo Gajdos, director of the zoo said on Tuesday.
"The baby Rhino was born on September 16 with natural conception, following sixteen months of pregnancy," Gajdos said, adding, "Only 73 specimen of the highly endangered species live in European zoos."
Currently, three adult Indian rhinos live in the Hungarian park: the youngest mature female is the seven-year-old Aruna who arrived from Berlin in 2014, the 14-year-old male Hans came in 2006 from Nuremberg, and the ten-year-old mother named Jasmin came in 2010 from Planckendael, Belgium.
"The birth of the Indian rhinoceros is a zoological sensation, as it is extremely difficult to breed them naturally, in captivity," Gajdos said.
The only other Rhino born in Hungary was the African specimen of the species, who came to the world through artificial insemination, according to the director.
The zoo had been trying to breed the Indian rhinos already for about eight years, Gajdos said.
In total, some 3,500 Indian rhinoceros, also called the greater-one horned rhinoceros, are estimated to live in the wild.
