A lot of baby news today it seems. Pass the cigars around....

MSNBC and other sites are reporting that Lulu, the Northern White Rhino in Budapest Zoo, has given birth to the a calf conceived by IVF. I'll be honest here, I didn't even know she was pregnant again. The first attempt resulted in failure, as we sadly reported back in August 2005.

But it would appear Lulu was successfully implanted again. It must have been very soon after the first calf died because she has been pregnant for another 16 months.

The world's first rhino conceived by artificial insemination has been born at Budapest Zoo, officials said in a statement on Wednesday.

The female baby rhino, born at 5:55 p.m. on Tuesday, weighed in at 128 lbs. "The little one seemed active and vital. An hour after being born it stood up on its own legs," the statement said.

The baby rhino has yet to be named, said zoo spokesman Zoltan Hanga, who added the zoo hoped to find a sponsor for her.

This is really terrific news.

And finally, many thanks to Mark Pritchard for his generous £50 donation to our Save The Rhino fundraiser at JustGiving. We're doing very well, and have now raised a total of £265.