Lion Country Safari welcomes birth of white rhinoceros
FORT LAUDERDALE - It's a boy.
A male southern white rhinoceros calf was born at Lion Country Safari on March 3rd.
The calf, named Orion, is a significant addition to the park's rhino herd, one of the largest in the country, and to rhinoceros conservation.
Both Orion and his mom, Bloom, are spending bonding time in the West Palm Beach safari park maternity area.
Rhino calves typically tip the scales at 88 to 132 pounds. They can gain 3-4 pounds a day from their mother's milk and will gain about 1,000 pounds a year for the first three years. Rhino calves nurse for almost two years.
"Lion Country Safari has played a key role in southern white rhinoceros conservation for many years and the calf is a significant contribution to the White Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan, a national collaboration to save the imperiled species from extinction," according to a statement from the park.
This species was teetering on the edge of extinction in the 1970s due to poaching, with less than 1,000 rhinos left on the planet. Thanks to multi-national collaborative breeding and protection efforts, today there are an estimated 20,000 white rhinos and each new birth contributes to their continued conservation.