Endangered rhino gives birth in Michigan zoo
Potter Park Zoo shared surveillance footage of adult female rhino named Doppsee giving birth in her enclosure in Lansing in the city's capital early morning of Tuesday (December 24).
In a press release sent to Reuters, the zoo said that the mother and calf are bonding behind the scenes in the rhino barn. The rhinos will most likely make public appearance in Spring 2020.
This was Doppsee's first pregnancy after calf's father, Phineus, came to the zoo from Texas in 2017 to breed specifically with the female rhino.
There are about 5,000 black rhinos in the wild today with around 50 under the care of accredited zoos managed by Species Survival Plan (SSP). In the statement, the zoo said that an average of less than two black rhino calves are born in human care every year, making every calf born vital to this endangered population.
