Now that's what we call a good start to the year. Welcome the Toronto Zoo's newest baby rhino! (Toronto Zoo)
If there's one thing that we'll never get tired of here at OWLconnected, it's baby animals. Call us big softies, but seeing a new life enter the world (especially when that animal is endangered) is something that never goes out of style.
So it's with great excitement that we bring you the news of a greater one-horned rhinoceros calf born last Thursday, January 4 at the Toronto Zoo. The baby rhino is a male and is the zoo's first animal birth of 2018. Greater one-horned rhinos are also known as Indian rhinos. They almost went extinct in the last century, but conservation efforts and breeding programs (like the one at the Toronto Zoo) have helped the species rebuild its numbers.
Nameless crew
So far, the baby is happy and healthy, which is good news. Like all young animals, the first month or so of development is especially important to the animal becoming a strong adult. That means ensuring lots of quality time with his 13 year-old mother, Asha. But one thing that the zoo staff is taking its time with is a name. And this new baby isn't alone there.
This new birth gives white rhinoceros Zohari and her own new calf some company at the zoo. Playdate anyone? (Toronto Zoo)
That's because on Christmas Eve, there was a birth of a white rhinoceros calf. Mother rhino Zohari was the first white rhinoceros to give birth at the Toronto Zoo in 27 years. Two baby rhinos? Both unnamed? Yep, that's right. There may be a contest to name the calves, but nothing has been announced just yet.
We wanna see them!
Of course you do. Who wouldn't? But even if you live close to Toronto, you'll need to wait. The baby rhinos aren't expected to be displayed until some time in the spring. And if you've been outside lately, that's seems like a perfectly reasonable decision (rhinos come from much warmer parts of the world, after all.)
Until then, watch this adorable baby rhino feeding from its mom. It's a good life.
