The Kansas City Zoo is getting a special start to the New Year: An endangered subspecies of rhino gave birth to a calf on December 31, officials announced. Animal specialists said the calf walks, gets sick, and even plays with its mother, Zuri.
To allow the calf and mother to bond, the zoo postponed testing to determine its sex and health. The public will be able to help the zoo name the calf.
“Visit a patient and alert mother for the first time,” the zoo said in a Facebook post.
rhino rescue, Rhino conservation charityhe said that a female rhino will be pregnant for 15-17 months before she finds a solitary place to give birth.
A rhinoceros calf will stay with its mother for two to four years. The charity said black rhinos can live between 30 and 35 years in the wild and 35 to 45 years in captivity.
The zoo said there are only 740 eastern black rhinos left in the wild, making the birth of a calf all the more significant. Save the Rhino cites poaching and the lack of safe habitat as the most serious threats against this species.
The World Wildlife Foundation said that rhinoceros horn make them targets for poaching, And that political instability in Africa, its natural habitat, is driving those efforts. The foundation said the pods are used in Asia for herbal remedies.
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