MIAMI, FL — A greater one-horned Indian rhinoceros named “Akuti” delivered what appears to be a healthy calf earlier this week at Zoo Miami. Mother and child will be given time to bond before meeting the public.
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“This is only the second successful birth of this very rare species in the zoo’s history,” Zoo Miami said in announcing the birth on Wednesday. “However, what makes this birth truly historic is that it is the first successful birth of this species anywhere in recorded history to be the result of induced ovulation and artificial insemination.”
The largest of the three Asian rhinos, and one of the largest rhino species in the world along with the African white rhino, the greater one-horned rhinoceros has made a comeback over the past four decades when it faced possible extinction.
“The greater one-horned rhino is a conservation success, with numbers increasing significantly since 1975,” said the World Wildlife Fund, noting that the species is still threatened by poachers for its horns and by habitat loss. “Back then, there were only 600 rhinos left in the wild.”
Zoo Miami officials said that the seven-year-old Akuti gave birth after a more-than-15-month pregnancy, which is normal for one-horned rhinos. The baby arrived at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
‘This is the first baby for Akuti, which means ‘Princess’ in Hindi,” zoo officials explained. The mother was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in January of 2012 and arrived at Zoo Miami in February of 2016.
The father is 18-year old “Suru,” which means “A Start” in Bengali. He was also born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and arrived at Zoo Miami in October of 2003.
“After several attempts at natural breeding with no success, a special team from the South East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction and Conservation along with Dr. Monica Stoops from the Cincinnati Zoo, met at Zoo Miami to artificially collect semen from Suru on Jan. 8, 2018, and then artificially inseminated Akuti on Jan. 9, 2018,” zoo officials said.
The SEZARC organization is dedicated to increasing rare and endangered species and has worked with several zoos and aquariums around the country.
“Once we were able to confirm that Akuti had indeed conceived, she was trained to receive regular ultrasound examinations which enabled zoo staff to closely monitor the development of the fetus,” said zoo officials. “Because we knew the exact date of conception, we were able to accurately estimate the birth date and for the last several days, Akuti has been under 24-hour observation awaiting this very exciting event.”
Miami zoo officials said that the newborn appears to be healthy and doing well but has yet to undergo a neonatal exam.
“This will be performed when the staff feels that it can safely separate the infant from its very protective mother for the few minutes that the exam will take,” said zoo officials. “It is critical that the mother and newborn are able to establish a bond which can sometimes be a challenge for first time mothers.”
Mother and child will possibly go on public display in a few weeks if all goes well. Despite gains in numbers, the species is still considered to be vulnerable, according to World Wildlife Fund.
“There are less than 3,000 Indian rhinos left in the wild occurring in small protected areas of Nepal, India, and Assam,” said zoo officials, noting the species represents the world’s fourth largest land mammal sometimes reaching a weight of 6,000 pounds.
“This very rare birth is not only significant for Zoo Miami, it is incredibly important to the international efforts to maintain a healthy population under human care of this highly vulnerable species throughout the world,” added Zoo Miami officials.