On Saturday morning at 7:35 a.m., Indian rhino Betty became a mother for the sixth time. The small rhinoceros is full of beans, enjoys lumbering around curiously and eagerly suckles it's mum Betty – the mother-child bond is therefore accomplished.
Black rhino lady Betty had the almightiest of births – in fact she was pregnant for a huge 16 months and had a gestation period of 477 days. All the sweeter that the birth of the little bull took place without any complications with both mother and baby finally enjoying those deserved moments of togetherness.
The rhino bull will be suckled for the next eighteen months Mum Betty is going to have to get used to sleepless nights – rhino calves can consume a record-breaking 30 liters of milk per day at the very beginning. And it clearly shows in the weight gain: "The young animal can gain up to two kilos per day at their peak and it will have already put on five times more weight than its birth weight by the time the first six months are complete," explains senior veterinarian Dr. Günter Strauss.
Belur is the proud dad of the little Indian rhinoceros, himself born in the Tierpark on 1 January 1990. Betty is likewise a "Tierpark original" and was a small sensation in herself: Her mother Jhansi moved to Tierpark Berlin from Zoo San Diego – little Betty came into the world quite unexpectedly a short time later. It was a surprise, but a nice one! The gestation actually went unnoticed…
Betty herself is now practiced in matters of youth: She became a mother to a female rhino for the first time in 2002, but unfortunately this one passed away shortly after birth. This was followed by bull Patna (2004) and females Saathi (2005), Manjula (2008) and Aruna (2011).
Indian rhinoceroses – named for the characteristic folding of their skin – are threatened with extinction in their homeland in northeastern India and Nepal. There are only approximately 2,800 living in the wild. Fortunately, the precautions seem to be working – an increasing trend has been recently observed. Tierpark Berlin is committed to the protection and conservation of rhinos in collaboration with the international zoo community: Betty and Belur are also part of the international breeding programme.
Betty and her offspring can take it easy for the next few days: They are living as a couple in a comfortable box, recovering from the birth before going back to daily life as rhinos!
