It’s a Girl! The Buffalo Zoo Welcomes New Female Rhino Calf
On Saturday morning, at 3:29 a.m., our greater one-horned rhino Tashi gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! This is Tashi’s fifth calf but the first with our previous male George, who formerly lived here at the Zoo and now resides at another AZA accredited facility.
Our animal care and veterinary teams got their first look at the calf early Saturday morning, where she received her first physical exam, which included her weight, checking her vitals, cleaning her belly button (umbilical cord attachment site), and bloodwork. She came in at a whopping 130 lbs! Over the next few weeks, our team will closely monitor Tashi and the calf, but currently, mom and calf are doing great.
Tashi’s pregnancy was based on a recommendation from the greater one-horned rhino Species Survival Plan (SSP) through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. SSP’s are designed to maintain genetically diverse and stable captive populations of species. The Buffalo Zoo is a long-time participant in this program, resulting in five rhino calves (4 females and 1 male) over the past 17 years.
The calf and Tashi will continue to bond behind the scenes for the next few weeks. We’ll be sharing all of the updates on our social media, so please be sure to share, like, and follow!
