Kid Territory: Critters: Rhinoceros
Uzuri will someday grow to be as big as her mom, weighing about 4,000 pounds (1,814 kilograms).
Wild Animal Park name:
Uzuri
Species: Southern
white rhinoceros
Location: San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Africa Field Exhibit
Her story
When Uzuri, the Park's 88th white rhinoceros baby, was born in October 2000, keepers knew she was special—and not just because she was born on Friday the 13th! Uzuri ("beauty" in Swahili) is the first female calf born to and raised by a mother rhino that had been born at the Park herself. Uzuri's mom, Ujima, was born at the Park in 1995. Keepers call Uzuri an "F2," meaning she's a second-generation zoo birth.
Uzuri is yet another success story for rhinos in zoos. There have been more southern white rhino births at the Park than anywhere else in the world!
Newborn news
Baby rhinos aren't just cute, they are also amazing creatures. A newborn rhino calf can stand within an hour of being born. Rhinos are born without horns. (Lucky for the mother rhino!) Young rhinos drink 12 gallons (45 liters) of their mom's milk every day, and gain about 100 pounds (45 kilograms) every month. Uzuri weighed about 100 pounds (45 kilograms) as a baby, and at six months of age, she weighed about 5 times that much!
White rhinos eat grass using their wide, square mouths. Their skin is not really white, but gray! The name "white rhinoceros" actually comes from a word describing the rhino's wide mouth.
Uzuri's keepers sometimes say she's a spitfire. She's very curious and social, and she loves mud! Like other rhino calves, Uzuri calls to her mother with a little squeak.
Where you can see her
You can see Uzuri and her family in the East Africa field exhibit from the Journey into Africa tour or on a Photo Caravan tour.
More
Job Profiles: Taking
Care of Animals
Animal-themed
Recipes: Rice-A-Rhino
Animal
Bytes: Rhinoceros
Park: Journey into Africa, Photo Caravan
