Cincinnati Zoo's eastern black rhino Seyia gives birth to Kendi

After a 15-month gestation period, Seyia gave birth to the healthy calf at 5:05 a.m. Monday after about 30 minutes of labor. Surveillance cameras inside the rhino barn recorded the birth and the mom and babys first moments. Every rhino calf born is incredibly important for the population, which includes fewer than 60 in North America. Calves will stay with their mothers for three to four years, which means that the average female can only have one calf every five years, said Christina Gorsuch, curator of mammals at the Cincinnati Zoo. This calf is only the fifth eastern black rhino born in the last two years in North America. Only one surviving calf was born in 2014/2015. The rhino care team is keeping its distance from Seyia and Kendi during this critical bonding period, so they have not yet been able to determine the calfs sex. The staff voted to name the calf Kendi, which means the loved one in Swahili. In 2015, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, the body that manages populations in zoos, determined that parents Faru and Seyia were a good genetic match and recommended that they breed. Faru came to Cincinnati from Atlanta in the summer of 2015 and met Seyia.