Endangered rhino born at Lincoln Park Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed a baby eastern black rhinoceros Thursday, helping to add to the critically endangered species’ population as part of a specialized breeding program.

The zoo’s 20-year-old rhino Kapuki gave birth to the female calf at 4:52 a.m. Thursday, zoo staff said in a statement.

The calf weighed about 60 pounds at birth, and took her first steps just an hour and a half after being born. An eastern black rhinoceros can gain 100 pounds in its first month of life, and can weigh as much as 5,000 pounds as adults. They can grow to be up to six feet tall and run as fast as 30 mph.

Curator Cassy Kutilek said the zoo was looking forward to watching the calf develop and snack on alfalfa hay and watermelon — her mom’s favorite. Eastern black rhinoceroses have a 15 to 17 month gestation period.

“Kapuki has proven to be such a great mother with her past two calves and we’re seeing her tap right back into her maternal instinct with her new calf,” Kutilek said. “Mom and calf are doing well and continue to hit their postpartum milestones, and we’re excited for when we’ll start seeing glimmers of the newborn’s personality.”

The birth was set up through the Eastern Black Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan, an effort among members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This is Kapuki’s third calf. She gave birth in to King 2013 and Romeo in 2019.

About 98% of the population was wiped out between 1960 and 1995 due to poaching and habitat loss, the largest decline among five living rhino species. The species is considered Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Prior to the calf’s birth, 55 Eastern black rhinos were living in 27 zoos in North America. There are about 1,000 eastern black rhinoceros in the wild after 25 years of conservation efforts helped them come back from the brink.

Other locally born rhinos have been part of the effort as well.

Kianga, a 22-year-old eastern black rhinoceros born at Brookfield Zoo in 2007, was moved to Milwaukee County Zoo last October. That rhino had previously spent 18 years at the nearby Racine, Wisconsin zoo as part of a recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums breeding program.