Endangered rhinoceros gives birth to calf at Kansas City Zoo

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A critically-endangered subspecies of rhinoceros gave birth to a calf at the Kansas City Zoo on December 31, officials announced. According to animal experts, the calf is walking, nursing, and even playing with its mother, Zuri.

The zoo is delaying an exam to determine the calf's gender and health in order to allow the calf and mother to bond. The general public will be able to assist the zoo in naming the calf. "Zuri is a patient and attentive first-time mother," the zoo said in a Facebook post.

According to Save the Rhino, a rhinoceros conservation charity, a female rhino is pregnant for 15-17 months before giving birth in a solitary location.

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The rhinoceros calf will spend two to four years with its mother. According to the charity, black rhinos can live for 30 to 35 years in the wild and 35 to 45 years in captivity.

According to the zoo, there are only 740 eastern black rhinoceroses left in the wild, making the calf's birth even more significant. According to Save the Rhino, the most serious threats to the species are poaching and a lack of safe habitat.

The World Wildlife Foundation said that rhinos' horns make them targets for poaching, and political instability in Africa, the rhino's habitat, is driving those efforts. According to the foundation, horns are used in herbal remedies in Asia.

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