​Critically Endangered Black Rhino Seyia Is Pregnant

A black rhino called Seyia is pregnant and 'due any day', the zoo in Cincinnati where she lives has announced.

Seyia is an eastern black rhino, a critically endangered species due to poaching and loss of habitat, meaning her pregnancy comes as promising news for her kind.

Cincinnati Zoo shared the happy news on Twitter, writing: "BIG news! Seyia is pregnant and due any day! Eastern black rhinos are critically endangered, so this is great news for the species.

"This will be her second calf with dad Faru."

Seyia - who previously gave birth to Kendi in 2017, following a 15-month pregnancy - arrived at the zoo in August 2013, a month before her fourth birthday.

"She made the long journey all the way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she was born," a blog post on the zoo's website posted the following August said.

"Every rhino has its own personality and Seyia is a real sweetie, yet definitely has some sass and spunk to her.

"She loves attention - getting a good rub down, taking a bubble bath, and most of all, interacting with her keepers during training sessions.

PA

"Seyia has learned so much over the past year here in Cincinnati. We train all of our animals to do lots of different husbandry behaviors, which helps us provide them with the best care possible. This is especially important when caring for rhinos.

"The black rhino has a reputation for being extremely aggressive, charging readily at threats. They have even been observed charging tree trunks and termite mounds in the wild! So it takes a very strong bond between keepers and their rhinos to accomplish all that we need to do with them. Only once this trust is formed between keeper and rhino can training begin."

Seyia was in labour for about 30 minutes when giving birth to Kendi in 2017, with surveillance cameras inside her enclosure capturing the arrival.

Zoo staff voted to name her baby Kendi, which means 'the loved one' in Swahili.

Now it's just a waiting game for Kendi's younger sibling.

Topics: News, US News, Animals, rhino

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman