White rhino born in Chilean zoo, boosting endangered species

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Hannah, a 13-year-old white rhino, has given birth to a newborn in a rare zoo birth for the nearly endangered species.

The arrival two weeks ago of the little male, named Silverio, marked the third birth of a white rhino in South America. The Buin Zoo in Santiago, the capital of Chile, unveiled Silverio to the public on Tuesday, who took his first giant steps after 12 days of medical care in confinement.

The zoo hailed his birth as a “huge achievement” for conservationists around the world. Only eight other southern white rhinos have been born in the past year.

The director of the Buin Zoo said several recent failed rhino courtships had dashed the hopes of conservationists trying to breed the species across the continent. But Hannah and Oliver, a southern white rhino pair shipped to Santiago from sub-Saharan Africa just over a decade ago, hit it off and gave birth to three calves at this zoo alone.

“There are several zoos in Latin America that have a pair of rhinos and have not managed to reproduce,” said zoo director Ignacio Idalsoaga. “We are contributing with a ninth baby to a species that only has a few specimens left in the wild.”

A team of veterinarians closely monitoring Silverio declared him in good health on Tuesday.

The achievement comes as fewer and fewer white rhinos roam the African plains. Northern white rhinos have virtually disappeared, although the international scientific community has started to revive the species through assisted reproduction and stem cell research.

The southern white rhino, a close cousin of the northern rhino and a more common species, has been classified as “near endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world's leading scientific authority on the status of species. There are just over 10,000 southern white rhinos left in the world, the vast majority of them living in zoos.

This is a major improvement from the early 19th century, when the species was hunted to near extinction. Intensive conservation efforts in recent decades have brought southern white rhinos back from the brink of extinction, a rare example of vigorous recovery in the face of peril.

But that could change, conservationists say, as hunters continue to kill rhinos for their horns and the mammals can struggle to reproduce in captivity, with an 18-month gestation period and often more than one male needed to stimulate breeding.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, humans are the only predators of rhinos. Hunters kill about 1,000 rhinos each year. About 17 rhinos are born each year.