Extremely rare video: One of the rarest mammals in the world was born in the zoo

In a remarkable event at Chester Zoo in Cheshire, England, a black rhino, one of the world’s rarest mammals, was born in broad daylight, providing visitors with a stunning sight that was also captured on extremely rare video.

In detail, zookeepers expressed, in a recent press release, their joy and amazement at the birth that took place on Sunday, November 12. Emma Ivegen, the zoo’s rhino team manager, shared their excitement: “We had been looking forward to this birth for a full 15 months, and since it is unusual for a rhino to give birth during daylight hours, we really did not expect it to happen before our eyes while we were going about our business.”

The newborn, despite her impressive size, landed gracefully on the sandy ground shortly after her birth. Since then he has remained close to his mother and is described as healthy, curious and energetic.

For your information, the black rhinoceros species (Diceros bicornis), especially the eastern black rhinoceros subspecies to which the newborn in the video belongs, is critically endangered. With only about 6,500 remaining in the wild, largely due to poaching and habitat loss, the species has suffered a sharp decline in a population that once numbered in the tens of thousands.

Chester Zoo, along with other European zoos, plays a vital role in the Endangered Species Breeding Programme, working to conserve black rhinos. This program involves careful monitoring of the hormones present in rhino dung to facilitate optimal reproduction. The zoo’s efforts, including a landmark project in 2019 that reintroduced a population of eastern black rhinos to Rwanda, aim to boost the dwindling numbers of fewer than 600 eastern black rhinos in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.