Missouri Zoo Celebrates Birth of Critically-Endangered Rhino Baby
You might think you've seen large babies before, but I'd bet you've never witnessed one this big. Missouri's Kansas City Zoo just celebrated the birth of an extremely endangered rhinoceros calf.
The Kansas City Zoo shared the great news of the birth of what is considered a "critically-endangered" animal, the eastern black rhinoceros. The calf's name is Zuri. They're not saying if Yuri is a boy or a girl yet and I'm too bashful to ask.
The World Wildlife Fund estimates that the black rhino population declined a staggering 98% between 1960 and 1995. They say that "poaching and black-market trafficking of rhino horn—continues to plague the species and threaten its recovery". However, the black rhinos are making a comeback. They now estimate there may be as many as 5,500 in the wild which is a vast improvement over where they stood in the mid-1990's.
Once that Kansas City Zoo updates their status to mention whether Zuri is a boy or a girl, I'll update this story. Congrats to them on their efforts to make this rare animal maybe not so rare anymore.
Wonder how big this baby's birthday cake will be? Asking for a friend.
UPDATE: (1-17-23) The Kansas City Zoo has revealed it's a girl.