INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Zoo was the big winner on Super Bowl Sunday.
The zoo is celebrating the arrival of a white rhinoceros calf born at 9:13 a.m. this morning.
The calf, who doesn't have a name just yet, was born to 19-year-old mother Zenzele. This is the first live-birth rhinoceros calf for the zoo and Zenzele’s seventh calf.
The zoo keepers said Zenzele is relaxed and the calf is content after the birth.
“Zenzele is an experienced and confident mom and everything is going very well,” said senior rhinoceros keeper Amber Berndt.
According to the zoo, Rhinoceros care staff began overnight watches early this month when Zenzele started producing milk and showed signs of impending labor.
Her new calf bring the zoo's herd of rhinoceroses to five.Mom and baby will spend time together indoors before they are introduced to the other members of the herd this spring.
According to the International Rhino Foundation, rhinoceros populations are threatened by habitat loss and poaching. Four of the five remaining species of rhinoceroses are at risk of extinction, according to the International Rhino Foundation.
