There are few things that humans universally agree on. With nearly 8 billion people on Earth, you’ll be hard pressed to find a statement everyone can agree on. However, if there’s one thing for people to agree on, it’s that baby animals are positively adorable.
On Wednesday, January 10, Zoo Atlanta shared a video of one of their newest residents. In the clip, their baby rhinoceros get’s a major case of the zoomies, and it’s infectiously cute. This isn’t a video to skip out on!
@zooatlSay hello to the best Christmas present ever! #babyrhino #rhino #rhinoceros #animals
Oh my goodness, this baby rhino is just irresistible! The little calf was having a grand time galloping around in the indoor rhinoceros enclosure as the mom stood off to the side watching her new baby get the zoomies. This rhino family seems to be doing swell!
Related: 7-Month-Old Baby’s Reaction to Zoo Animals Is the Definition of Joy
The rhino baby was born on December 24, a mere two-and-a-half weeks ago, and is already impressing TikTok viewers and zoo staff alike. Once the baby is introduced to the public, they won’t be able to get enough of this calf!
The Southern White rhinoceros is making a comeback
Every successful birth of a Southern White rhinoceros is cause for celebration. At the end of the 19th century, the species was nearly wiped out due to hunting and land clearance. However, a rigorous, global effort to repopulate them has brought them back from the brink of extinction.
Now, the species boasts an estimated 20,000 individuals in the wild with even more residing at zoos across the world, making their official IUCN designation “near threatened” as of 2020. While they are considered a conservation success story, a recent uptick in poaching due to the medical benefits of the horn have halted their population growth and even caused a slight decrease from 2012-2017.
Thankfully, zoos like Zoo Atlanta are still working hard to grow the species’ population numbers. As a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), they were tapped to take part in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for the southern white rhinoceros, which focuses on breeding captive animals to repopulate the species, among other goals.
Other efforts to protect them include the ban of domestic and international trade of rhinoceros horn, security teams hired by privately owned rhinoceros farms, and injecting rhino horns with poison or dye that would not harm the animal. We’ll do whatever it takes to protect them!
To us, it feels as though this baby rhino is a mark of good things to come for the species. These resilient animals are so impressive!
