Science & Nature
Lincoln Park Zoo Celebrates Healthy Birth of Endangered Baby Black Rhino
Kapuki and her newborn calf, born March 19, 2026, at Lincoln Park Zoo. Eastern black rhinos are critically endangered in the wild. (Courtesy Lincoln Park Zoo)
Lincoln Park Zoo is celebrating the arrival of a baby eastern black rhinoceros, born early Thursday morning.
The female calf is the third for 20-year-old mom Kapuki and her first with new papa 21-year-old Utenzi.
The not-so-little one weighed approximately 60 pounds and took her first steps at less than two hours old.
“Kapuki has proven to be such a great mother with her past two calves (born in 2013 and 2019) and we’re seeing her tap right back into her maternal instinct with her new calf,” said Cassy Kutilek, a curator at the zoo.
The first few days are particularly critical for the calf. Mom and baby will remain behind the scenes for several weeks, and caretakers will closely monitor the two via a camera system to keep disturbances to a minimum, zoo officials said.
Eastern black rhinos are critically endangered in the wild, their population having dropped 98% between 1960 and 1995 due to poaching. Conservation efforts have boosted the rhinos’ numbers to approximately 1,000 in the wild.
The newest member of Lincoln Park Zoo’s rhino family is the result of the zoo’s participation in the Eastern Black Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
