Tokyo, 16 Sept. 2024 (NHK World Japan)

A Tokyo zoo says it has managed to breed an endangered rhinoceros, marking the facility’s first such success in 50 years.

A greater one-horned rhinoceros, which is widely known as the Indian rhinoceros, gave birth to a calf earlier this month at the Tama Zoological Park in Hino City, Western Tokyo.

The zoo says it is the species’ eighth successful birth in the country, including one by the same mother rhino, and the first in 50 years at the Tokyo zoo.

The picture show the calf standing up by itself about 20 minutes after birth’

The rhino is on the Red List of threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, or IUCN. The Tokyo zoo has been trying to breed the species.

Both the mother and baby rhinos will not be exhibited for the time being out of consideration for their health. Zoo officials will make an announcement once they decide when to exhibit the pair.

The zoo said in a statement that zookeepers are relieved the baby was born safely. It added that the mother rhino has experience with birth and has remained calm, and says that the baby is healthily drinking breast milk.