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A white rhino was born for the first time in decades on November 7, 2023 at the Arizona Zoo, United States (US). Photo/KTAR News
PHOENIX – A white rhino was born for the first time in decades on November 7, 2023 at the Arizona Zoo, United States (US). The female white rhino calf was named Masiki or Siki for short, born to her parents Zuri and Maoto.
According to officials from Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium, and Safari Park, the name Masiki means “mask” from the Bantu language. The Bantu language family consists of approximately 600 languages spoken by the Bantu peoples of Central, Southern, Eastern, and Southeastern Africa.
“He was difficult to monitor via ultrasound because his ears were always in the way and after he was born, his ears were one of the first things to move after birth,” said Wildlife World rhino specialist, Emily Kading, quoted by SINDOnews from the KTAR News page, Wednesday (6/12/2023) .
Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park, located in Litchfield Park, near Phoenix, began its rhino conservation breeding plan about a decade ago. This project brought three unrelated, orphaned female rhinos to South Africa.
Wildlife World also acquired a male rhino that had been imported from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. “This baby opens up a new lineage that will play an important role in rhino conservation for decades to come,” said Wildlife World president Kristy Hayden.
According to Wildlife World, the entire rhino population is threatened. At the start of the 20th century, it was estimated that there were around 500,000 rhinos roaming the wild. Currently, about 27,000 rhinos live in Africa.
“I am grateful that Wildlife World has the resources and ability to import its parent, Zuri, from Africa. “Where he is no longer at risk of being killed by poachers, and provides a natural environment for him and Maoto to breed,” said Hayden.
Wildlife World is also working with the American Institute of Rhinoceros Science (AIRS) to support rhino conservation efforts to increase genetic diversity and combat rhino extinction.
(wib)