DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines is expecting a new and rare addition in the fall — an eastern black rhinoceros.
Ayana and Kiano, the south side park’s eastern black rhinos, are expecting a baby in late October or early November, the Des Moines Register reports.
Experts say Ayana’s pregnancy is the first confirmed among the eastern black rhino zoo population in almost two years, marking a major turning point in the species’ decades-long decline.
Listed as critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund, Des Moines’ rhinos are two of just 46 eastern black rhinos currently housed in North American zoos, according to leading zoological nonprofit organization Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
Only six of those 46 rhinos are breeding females.
