After a difficult reproductive journey, the Toronto Zoo’s 13-year-old white rhino Sabi is expecting her first baby calf.
“We are overjoyed with the news of Sabi’s pregnancy, and it is such a great example of how the various Zoo teams work closely with one another,” Director of Wildlife Care at Toronto Zoo Grant Furniss said in a media release on May 12.
“The cooperation between Wildlife Care, Wildlife Science, Nutrition, and Veterinary teams was instrumental in getting us to this point in Sabi’s pregnancy. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and at the Toronto Zoo this is certainly the case as we prepare for newborns — Facilities and Maintenance teams will soon begin making modifications so that we are baby-ready!” he added.
The zoo says when she arrived in Toronto in 2012, its reproductive science team found that Sabi exhibited “long” estrus cycles which made conception a significant challenge. Compared to the typical 30-day female fertile cycle, Sabi’s was 70 days in length.
Through changes in diet and husbandry, the wildlife care and reproductive science teams helped Sabi switch to the typical cycle length as of spring 2022.
“The Toronto Zoo Wildlife Care and Reproductive Science teams are thrilled that the breeding introductions with male Tom in summer 2022 were successful,” the zoo said.
The zoo says a white rhino’s gestation period lasts 425 to 496 days or approximately 16 months, which means Sabi is expected to give birth between early September and late October. In the meantime, she will undergo voluntary ultrasound examinations, so the team can monitor the calf’s early development.
As per the calf’s father, Tom, this isn’t his first rodeo as a father. The zoo says this will be his second calf. The 15-year-old white male rhino’s first calf, Theo, was born in December 2017 and moved to the Greater Vancouver Zoo in late 2021.
“Sabi was an incredible aunt to Theo, and we look forward to seeing her maternal instincts with her own little calf!” the zoo said.
Currently, Sabi is in her third trimester. Guests who are familiar with Sabi will notice her “baby bump” starting to show as the baby continues to grow over the summer. The zoo has yet to name the baby nor has revealed when it will be announced.
“She has definitely been enjoying the added attention, particularly the belly scratches she receives from guests participating in behind-the-scenes Wild Encounters tours,” the zoo said.
White rhinos in the wild are listed as “Near Threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
The white rhino population is also decreasing because of the continued increase in poaching for their horns for the black market trade.
As of today, there are less than 16,000 existing white rhinos.
