SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Hannah, a 13-year-old white rhinoceros, has delivered a newborn calf in a rare zoo birth for the almost endangered species.
A white rhino is born in a Chilean zoo, boosting the near-endangered species
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Hannah, a 13-year-old white rhinoceros, has delivered a newborn calf in a rare zoo birth for the almost endangered species.
The arrival of the male calf, named Silverio, two weeks ago marked the third time that a white rhino had ever been born in South America. The Buin Zoo in Chile’s capital of Santiago unveiled Silverio to the public on Tuesday as he took his first giant-footed steps after 12 days of medical care in confinement.
The zoo hailed his birth as a "big achievement" for conservationists worldwide. Over the past year, only eight other southern white rhinos have been born.
The director of Buin Zoo explained that a recent string of failed rhino romances had dashed the hopes of conservationists attempting to breed the species across the continent. But Hannah and Oliver - a pair of southern white rhinos shipped to Santiago all the way from sub-Saharan Africa just over a decade ago - have hit it off, producing three calves in this one zoo.