The 2013 baby watch continues at Zoo Atlanta. This time, they’re awaiting the birth of a rhinoceros.
Andazi, a 6-year-old eastern black rhinoceros, has a long birth window — late July to late November, though zoo officials said the baby rhino likely will appear in August or September.
Mom tips the scales at 2,400 pounds, and baby’s not likely to be a lightweight. Rhino gestation averages 14 to 18 months, and at birth calves usually weigh in at 55 to 90 pounds.
Baby rhinos are born without horns — which is likely good news for mom.
Andazi will be off exhibit until she delivers her calf, zoo officials said.
Her mate, 8-year-old Utenzi, will not share space with his new son or daughter. Black rhinos are solitary in the wild, zoo officials explained.
The birth will be the first rhino born at the Atlanta zoo in its 124-year history, officials said.
Eastern black rhinos are a critically endangered species that was hunted almost to extinction in the 1980s. Their populations have experienced a near-catastrophic decline in recent years, largely as a result of poaching for their horns and other body parts, which are believed by some cultures to have curative properties, zoo officials said.
Giant panda Lun Lun gave birth July 15 at Zoo Atlanta to twin boys. She and Yang Yang now have five male offspring. Sukari, a 15-year-old western lowland gorilla at the zoo, has entered the birth window for her second infant, which could arrive anytime between late July and mid-August, officials said.
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