Zookeepers at Zoo Miami are celebrating the birth of a rare black rhinoceros. They were ecstatic to find the baby rhino next to its mother in the rhino barn when they came into work on Monday, August 23rd.

 

Due to an extremely protective mother, a neonatal exam has not been done yet. Zookeepers also don't want to get too close just yet because the first hours after birth are critical for bonding and nursing between mother and baby.

 

The baby is a female, according to Ron Magill, Zoo Communications and Media Relations Director. Zookeepers were able to determine the gender of the baby through a distant visual inspection. She appears to weigh about 70 – 80 pounds. She has been observed nursing and appears healthy but specifics will not be known until the veterinary staff can do the neonatal exam which is dependent on the staff's ability to safely separate mother and infant for the short time necessary to perform the procedure.

 

The mother's name is "Circe" and she is 10 ½ years old. She was born at the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina and came to Zoo Miami via a breeding loan with the Los Angeles Zoo. This is Circe's second baby.

 

The father's name is "Toshi" and he is nearly 27 years old. He came to Zoo Miami from Hiroshima, Japan in November of 1983 and has sired 8 offspring since his arrival.

Zoo Miami has had an impressive 14 black rhinos born in captivity making it one of the nation's most successful zoos in maintaining and breeding this highly endangered species in captivity. From numbers reaching well over 100,000 animals in Sub-Saharan Africa at the beginning of the 20th century, black rhinos now number less than 5,000 in the wild. They have been poached for their horn which is believed by some cultures to possess medicinal qualities and by others it is used for dagger handles as a sign of status. These large herbivores can weigh up to 3,000 pounds and have a pregnancy of between 15 and 16 months.

 

It will be several weeks before mother and baby will be out on exhibit for the public to see to insure the newborn is healthy and well adjusted. The baby's name will be decided via a contest that will be launched next week on Zoo Miami's website: www.zoomiami.org
 

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