Toronto Zoo Celebrates The Birth Of White Rhino

It was a white Christmas at the Toronto Zoo this year!

The Toronto Zoo announced a white Rhino was born by its seven-year-old mother Zohari on Christmas Eve. The calf, was born at a healthy 62.3 kg and is reported to be doing well. According to their announcement, “mom is very tired but a very calm and protective first-time mom.”

The baby is said be be eating more than expected, and apparently has hairy ears. The zoo shared this clip of the baby checking out his surroundings accompanied by his mom.

We are excited to announce that on Christmas Eve, white rhino Zohari gave birth to a male calf at 10:45pm! . . Both mom and baby are doing very well, with reports that mom is very tired but a very calm and protective first-time mom. The calf is very big and strong, weighing in at 62.3 kg, he has been eating more than would be expected, and he apparently has very hairy ears . #cutealert #torontozoo #babyrhino

A post shared by Toronto Zoo (@thetorontozoo) on Dec 28, 2017 at 7:08am PST

This birth is expecially good news for white rhinoceros conservation, as according to the Toronto Zoo, the species is still listen as Near-Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red list of Threatened Species. There is an estimated 19,682 – 21,077 white Rhinos left in the wild according to the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group 2016.

This is the first white rhino calf to be born at the Toronto zoo since 1990.