Baby rhinoceros born at safari park and conservation centre

CUMBERLAND, Ohio – A safari park and conservation centre in Ohio says a southern white rhinoceros has given birth to a female calf.

The Columbus Dispatch reports officials at The Wilds in eastern Ohio say the baby was born Oct. 5 and doesn’t have a name yet. They say the baby is healthy and nursing at the centre in Cumberland, roughly 80 miles (129 kilometres) east of Columbus.

The calf is the second white rhino calf born to mother Anan. Her first calf was a boy named Letterman. He was born in 2014.

The Wilds says the female calf is the 17th white rhino born at the centre.

The species remains classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as near-threatened, even with a population in the wild of about 20,400.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com