CUMBERLAND – Columbus Zoo officials are celebrating the arrival of a greater one-horned rhinoceros at the Wilds, the zoo-owned conservation center in Guernsey County.
The mother, Sanya, has given birth to six calves since arriving at the Wilds in 2004. The latest calf arrived in the early morning hours of August 16 and is the ninth born at the facility near Zanesville, a significant achievement considering the species nearly went extinct during the 20th century, officials said.
Calves usually weigh more than 100 pounds at birth and an adult greater one-horned rhino can reach 4,000 to 6,000 pounds.
The Wilds is also home to 15 southern white rhinos and has welcomed a total of 25 white rhino births since 2004.
The Wilds is the only facility outside of Africa with where four and five generations of white rhinos have been bred in captivity.
Once listed as an endangered species, the greater one-horned rhino has seen a steady population increase, thanks to strict government protection, from fewer than 100