This past Sunday, most people were glued to their TVs to watch the Super Bowl. At an Indianapolis Zoo, a baby rhino was being born.
There was the birth of a very rare white rhino in Indianapolis, Indiana. Save the Rhino says that there are only about 17,000 white rhinos left in the world. The birth took place live at the Indianapolis Zoo, and it was a huge win for the staff there.
“A 19-year-old woman named Zenzele gave birth to a white rhinoceros calf at 9:13 a.m. today, which is a big win for Indianapolis.” “The Indianapolis Zoo’s first live-born rhinoceros calf and Zenzele’s seventh calf,” the Zoo said in a news release about the birth.
The zoo staff was getting ready for the baby rhino to arrive when they saw early signs that the mother was in labor and making milk. “Zenzele is a smart and experienced mom, and things are going great.” Zenzele and her calf are both doing well. “Zenzele is calm, and the calf is happy,” said senior rhinoceros keeper Amber Berndt.
With this baby rhino’s birth, the zoo now has five rhinos: Spike, Gloria, Mambo, and two sisters, Gloria and Mambo. For the first few weeks, Zenzele will stay inside with her baby and be slowly exposed to the rhino staff.
Doctor Robert Shumaker, President of the zoo, said, “Our Life Sciences team has done a great job.” It is an honor for our Zoo to take care of these beautiful animals and fight for their protection.
“In the wild, rhinoceros populations are threatened by habitat loss and poaching,” they said as they talked more about how special this birth was. The International Rhino Foundation says that four of the five kinds of rhinoceroses that are still alive are in danger of going extinct. One of the species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is the white rhinoceros.
