Zoo Berlin may be welcoming a new baby rhino in autumn 2018. Female black rhinoceros Maburi (15) is expecting!
The gestation period for rhinoceroses is 14 to 15 months. When the calves are born they weigh around 30 kg – and do not yet have horns, of course, just small bumps on their noses. However, after three or four years the animals can weigh as much as 1.2 tonnes and already sport an impressive horn.
A rhino’s horn keeps growing throughout its life. The animals grind and smooth their own horns by rubbing them against rocks and tree trunks. The longest rhino horn at Zoo Berlin belongs to female black rhinoceros Kilaguni, whose nose bears an impressive 80 cm spike.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified the black rhinoceros as “Critically Endangered”. Adult rhinos have no natural enemies, but poachers mercilessly hunt them down for their horns. Today, around 5,000 black rhinoceroses are estimated to be living wild in Africa. For several years, Zoo Berlin has contributed to the success of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for black rhinos. In 2012, Berlin-born female black rhino Zawadi was released into the wild in Tanzania – and in 2016 she gave birth to her first calf. Tierpark Berlin manages the international studbook for this rhinoceros species.
Zoo Berlin’s last baby black rhino was born in October 2014. That means that Maburi’s calf would be the first in four years, and the 20th black rhino calf to be born in Berlin. Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr Andreas Knieriem is excited about the possible new arrival: “We are always thrilled when we can help save a threatened species – especially one as fascinating as the black rhinoceros.”
Maburi’s pregnancy was determined by a hormone test of her dung, carried out with the assistance of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. If successfully carried to term, this calf will be the third born to Maburi and 26-year-old rhino dad Jasper. There are currently five black rhinos living at Zoo Berlin – four females and one male.
