The first black rhino in more than 25 years was born in northern Kenya this month.
It was born at the Sera Community Rhino Sanctuary.
The birth comes when poaching has put the black rhino on a list of animals that face extinction. Only about 5,000 black rhinos remain.
FILE - Rangers stand next to a black rhino about to be released out of a capture crate at the Sera Community Rhino Sanctuary in Samburu county, some 350 km north of the capital, Nairobi, May 20, 2015. A female black rhino also was transferred in May of 2015. A baby black rhino was born in Kenya in March.
Female black rhinos usually have one baby at a time. At birth, baby rhinos, called calves, weigh between 40 to 64 kilograms, according to the San Diego Zoo.
Conservationists in Kenya say they are pleased with the birth. But protecting the black rhinos is expensive. A sanctuary in east Africa estimates it costs between $10,000 and $15,000 to protect one rhino.
The Sera sanctuary is becoming a popular home for rhinos. The first rhinos were moved to Sera in 2015. The baby rhino's birth brought the population at the sanctuary to 11. Officials hope to bring 10 more rhinos to Sera this year.
White rhinos and black rhinos live in the grasslands and floodplains of eastern and southern Africa, according to the National Geographic Society.
I'm Jim Dresbach.
Jill Craig wrote this story for VOA News. Jim Dresbach adapted it for Learning English and VOANews.com. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
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Words in This Story
rhino – n. informal language use for rhinoceros
poaching – v. to catch or kill an animal illegally
extinction – n. the state or situation that results when something such as a plant or animal species has died out completely
sanctuary – n. a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter
calves – v. a baby of a large animal like a rhino
grasslands – n. land covered with grasses and other soft plants but not with bushes and trees
floodplains – n. an area of low, flat land along a stream or river that may flood