A newborn rhino has arrived at Zoo Atlanta, making it the prettiest Christmas miracle yet.
The park reported that on December 24, the southern white rhinoceros, the first to be born at that zoo, arrived. According to a news statement from park officials on Monday, the calf, whose species is nearly extinct, is strong and healthy and is getting “appropriate maternal care” from its mother.
According to the press release, this is only the second rhino to be born at the zoo; the first was an eastern black rhino in 2013.
The zoo stated that white rhino infants can weigh between 100 and 150 pounds at birth, putting them among the “largest terrestrial mammal babies in the animal kingdom.” However, it did not disclose any other information regarding the calf.
The baby’s parents, Mumbles, 12, and Kiazi, 22, met at the zoo in early 2022. In the spring of 2023, park employees discovered the pregnancy. Before going into the rhino habitat, the calf and its mother will continue to connect, according to the zoo.
The birth of Kiazi’s calf has the Zoo Atlanta family ecstatic. The president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta, Raymond B. King, stated that this birth has been long-awaited news for many months.
According to King, the bond that zoo visitors can form with the newborn calf and its mother may lead to “conservation action.”
“As guardians of this new ambassador here in Atlanta, we also have a responsibility to do everything in our power to raise awareness of the status of wild rhinos, as all rhino species are currently in jeopardy,” King declared.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources lists southern white rhinos as “near threatened.”
And the group says that their population trend is declining.
Southern white rhinos are particularly vulnerable since they frequently travel in herds in the wild, a behavior that makes it easier for poachers to locate them, according to Zoo Atlanta’s news release. “While poaching for their horns is a serious issue for all rhinos and has already resulted in the extinctions and near-extinctions of some species,” the news release said.
It continued, “Rhino horns are made of keratin, the same substance found in human hair and fingernails, and have no known medicinal value, although powdered rhino horn is believed by some cultures to possess medicinal properties.”
According to the press release, Dakari, a 17-year-old female southern white rhinoceros, was another addition to the zoo in October.
