The zoo did not have Kipenzi s weight, but spokeswoman Morgan Purvis said mature females can weigh 4,000 to 6,000 pounds.
Kipenzi shares her habitat in the Plains of East Africa exhibit with two other southern white rhinos Gabriella, or Gabby, 26, and Archie, 51, who is the third-oldest male rhino in the world. A group of rhinos is called a crash. She may breed with Archie. However, due to his age we will explore artificial insemination options, Purvis said.
Also in the Plains of East Africa exhibit are greater kudu, East African gray crowned-cranes, Marabou stork and a North African ostrich.
Southern white rhinos, native to Sub-Saharan Africa, are the most prevalent of the five types of existing rhinoceros. They were near extinction in the late 19th century, with less than 100, but have since recovered to around 18,000 today because of careful protection and management, according to the zoo.
The Detroit Zoological Society announced the birth of a female lion cub, the first born in the zoo for since 1980.
Binti, whose name means daughter in Swahili, was born Sept. 10, 2020, to mother Asha and father Simba.
Asha came to the Detroit Zoo from the Buffalo Zoo last year, as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Program.
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Simba once lived with the royal family of Qatar, and was given to the zoo in 2013.
Binti was born via cesarean section after Asha experienced difficulty giving birth. Three other cubs were stillborn.
The Detroit Zoo cared for Binti with an incubator and bottle feedings for the first several weeks of her life, then was let into a larger play-pen.