Endangered rhinoceros born at Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed a newborn black rhinoceros, an endangered species, this week.

The baby boy arrived at 60 pounds, and is the firstborn to his mother, 8-year-old Kapuki, and father, 27-year-old Maku. He is the first rhino born at the zoo since 1989, according to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Black rhinos are critically endangered due to being killed by poachers for their horns, according to Post Tribune. There are approximately 5000 black rhinos left in the wild.

Rhinoceroses are solitary, territorial animals that only come together to breed. This makes it challenging for zoos to introduce male and female rhinos. The Lincoln Park Zoo staff carefully calculated when to let Kapuki and Maku meet each other by monitoring Kapuki’s reproductive cycles by testing her fecal samples. All the hard work paid off, as Kapuki and Maku are now proud parents.

The new baby rhino, who is currently unnamed, will remain behind closed doors from the public for his first few weeks of his life. The zoo explained that this will allow him to deepen his bond with his mother.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons