![The white rhinoceros or square-lipped rhinoceros [Ceratotherium simum] (File photo via pixabay)](https://www.ajc.com/resizer/v2/II4VYIPCPU55GVMIG3NNZJBGGM.jpg?auth=dfdf8fe2c3adce9ca69643119ca8be5a2dbf59953861970d589597dd30406e8e&width=1600&height=900&smart=true)
The newest resident at the North Carolina Zoo is making big news. A southern white rhino was born to mother Linda and father Stormy, on Monday; the first calf born at the zoo in 41 years.
According to zookeepers, the female calf, who will be named later, is healthy, nursing and developing normally.
Weighing approximately 80-90 pounds, she will join the herd and be on view to the public as soon as possible.
The calf is expected to gain 100 pounds a month in the first year and could weigh anywhere from 3,500 to 5,500 pounds once fully grown.
The birth is a significant one for the zoo. In 2008, the zoo completed an expansion of its 40-acre Watani Grasslands, which was created specifically for a breeding rhino herd.
Pam Simmons, the zoo's executive director, said in a news release: "Every birth at the North Carolina Zoo is special and this one particularly so. With each new rhino born, it is a success story for this species as a whole."
Southern white rhinos were once hunted to near extinction and populations in the wild today still face significant threats from poaching and habitat loss.
For more information, visit nczoo.org.
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