Zoo's newborn baby black rhino will make you feel joy again
Baby rhinos were put on this earth for one reason only: to make humans on the internet smile.
On October 11th, Ayana, a rhino at Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, gave birth to a rare baby black rhino, weighing in at 80 lbs. The zoo recently released a video of the yet-to-be-named baby rhino, prompting the internet to immediately lose its sh*t.
According to the zoo's senior veterinarian, June Olds, the rhino is "very strong, she is very vocal, she is apparently very healthy."
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Eastern black rhinos are an endangered species, and female black rhinos are even more rare. There are currently less than 1,000 in the wild and in captive populations combined.
"Her reproductive potential is quite high and, hopefully, she will contribute greatly to the overall population," Susan Ellis, director of the International Rhino Foundation, told The Des Moines Register.
Shortly after the baby's birth, she was standing, walking, and attempting to be fed.
"All positive signs of a healthy baby rhino calf," a spokesman for the zoo told ABC News.
Since 1972, the population of wild black rhinos has declined 96 percent.
Look at her go.
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Heather was the Web Trends reporter at Mashable NYC. Prior to joining Mashable, Heather wrote regularly for UPROXX and GOOD Magazine, was published in The Daily Dot and VICE, and had her work featured in Entertainment Weekly, Jezebel, Mic, and Gawker. She loves small terrible dogs and responsible driving. Follow her on Twitter @wear_a_helmet.
