Committed conservationists at Chester Zoo provide a home to over 500 animal species, many of which are at risk of extinction. Recently, the zoo shared one of its successes at working to save the eastern black rhino, which is critically endangered.
Recently, Chester keepers caught the birth of a rhino calf (which took place during daylight hours) on film. The newborn was delivered safely onto a soft bed of sand by its mother, Zuri, on November 12 after a 15-month-long pregnancy term.
The zoo’s experts have remarked that a rhino birth in daylight conditions is an unusual occurrence, but fortuitously it allowed the team at Chester to capture footage of the Incredible moment. Accompanying the video it has shared, the Zoo also provided images of the new arrivals first few days in the rhino enclosure, staying close to it mum.
The global authority on nature’s current state, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, has classed the eastern black rhino as “critically endangered”. This category is reserved for animals with an exceptionally high risk of becoming extinct in their natural habitats. Today, there are less than 600 eastern black rhinos in the wild in countries like Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania where they are native animals.
Conservationists have commented that the recent birth of the healthy calf will aid international efforts to stop the rare species from disappearing. The latest statistics show that for the first time in over a decade, African rhino numbers have shown an increase.
