LOS ANGELES - A San Diego conservation organization has announced the first successful artificial insemination birth of a southern white rhino in North America.

San Diego Zoo Global says the mother gave birth to a healthy male calf Sunday at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Mother and calf will remain off-limits to the public for now to allow them to bond.

The birth represents an important step in saving the southern white rhino, which has been threatened because of poaching and illegal trafficking of rhino horn.

The organization says the success of the artificial insemination will also help them recover the northern white rhino. There are only two northern white rhinos in the world, and both are female. Researchers plan on having southern white rhinos serve as surrogates for northern white rhino embryos.