Black rhino baby, a critically endangered species, is born New Year’s Eve at KC Zoo

An eastern black rhinoceros — part of a critically endangered species — was born on New Year’s Eve at the Kansas City Zoo.

Zoo officials in a news release Thursday said both the baby and its mother, Zuri, are doing well.

The eastern black rhinoceros is a critically endangered species; only about 740 are left in the wild, in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The new Kansas City calf is joining just over 50 eastern black rhinos that exist in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, which makes the calf’s birth “important for the subspecies as a whole,” the zoo wrote.

“The rhinos’ animal care specialists say that the calf is walking, nursing, and even playing spar with mom,” according to the news release. “Zuri has been a patient and attentive first-time mother.”

Zuri and her calf are staying in the rhino barn, where human interaction is limited so that the new family can bond, zoo officials said. After a few weeks, a team will conduct a neonatal exam and announce the baby’s gender.

The gestation period for black rhinos usually lasts between 15 and 16 months. When Zuri’s pregnancy was announced by the zoo in July, in her third trimester, officials said the baby would likely weigh between 75 and 100 pounds.

“Throughout her pregnancy, Zuri received weekly ultrasounds and blood hormone monitoring,” according to the release. “Zuri’s animal care specialists trained with her in preparation for the regular checkups, so she was able to participate in her own care by patiently standing for the ultrasounds.”

Both Zuri and the baby’s father, Ruka, came to Kansas City from the Oregon Zoo in spring 2018 after the move to Kansas City was recommended by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan. Zuri, who is 15, was born at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Ruka, 11, was born at the Saint Louis Zoo.

The Kansas City Zoo’s conservation fund works with a number of programs in Africa that are trying to reduce poaching, which is the largest threat to rhinos in the wild.