Healthy, 100-pound southern white rhinoceros born at Virginia Zoo, the second in 3 years

EMILY DELETTER, USA TODAY
November 17, 2023 

A southern white rhinoceros was born earlier this month at the Virginia Zoo.

The female southern white rhinoceros, whose name has not yet been released, was born Nov. 9 and is the second rhinoceros ever born at the zoo in Norfolk, Virginia, according to a press release. She is the second offspring for 10-year-old mother Zina and 17-year-old father Sibindi. Zina also gave birth to the zoo's first rhinoceros calf, Mosi, in 2021.

There are now five rhinoceroses in the Virginia Zoo's crash, the term for a group of rhinoceroses.

The baby is a healthy female and weighed about 100 pounds according to a neonatal exam performed within 48 hours of birth.

Zina and the baby will remain in their night barn for the next few weeks so zookeepers can monitor them and ensure they are bonding, the zoo said, but they will be able to be seen through the barn windows.


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The second southern white rhinocerous calf ever to be born at the Virginia Zoo is seen next to her mom, Zina, who gave birth on Nov. 9, 2023.

The gestation period for a southern white rhinoceros averages around 16 months, and is the second-longest in the animal kingdom behind elephants.

“This baby is invaluable to the long-term survival of the species,” Greg Bockheim, Executive Director of the Virginia Zoo, said in a release. “And like her older brother, she could not be more adorable.”

The southern white rhinoceros is native to South Africa, and the majority are found natively in four countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, according to the World Wildlife Fund. While they are not white in color, their name comes from the Afrikaans word "weit," which means wide, and refers to the animal's mouth.

There are less than 16,000 left in the world, according the World Wildlife Fund, who has the species classified as "near threatened."

The Virginia Zoo said their median life expectancy is about 36 years in the wild, but they may life to be older than 40 in human care.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Female southern white rhinoceros born this month at Virginia Zoo