One of the rhinos in Israel’s Ramat Gan Safari gave birth to a healthy male calf on Monday morning named “Re’i,” “My friend” in Hebrew.
Re’i is the 34th rhino born in the Safari and weighs roughly 50 kilos (110 pounds).
“The Safari’s tradition is to designate the calf with a name that starts with the first letter of his mother’s name,” the Ramat Gan Safari said in a statement, referring to his 15-year-old mother, Rihanna.
“In the spirit of our times, we felt we couldn’t remain indifferent to what’s happening in the country. That’s why we chose the name ‘Re’i,’ which symbolizes many things for us since the beginning of the war until today—we all need to act for one another and be there for each other,” the statement read.
Re’i is Rihanna’s fourth calf, following the births of Ruvi, Rami and Rainy Rafiki in recent years, and they are both healthy and well, the Safari, whose formal name is the Zoological Center Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan, said.
As early as March, the handlers at the Safari suspected that Rihanna was pregnant. They first suspected this when her udders seemed to fill up, and later her breech started to swell.
Although an adult rhinoceros can weight more than a ton and a half, the handlers in the Savannah Department noticed these minor changes.
Rihanna started exhibiting behavior typical of female animals before calving. She distanced herself from other female rhinos in the group and kept to isolated areas in the Savannah.
Rihanna furthermore rose and sat continuously, and generally demonstrated behaviors of restlessness, the Safari said.
After a year and a half of pregnancy, Rihanna went into labor. When her labor intensified, the caregivers took their distance from the mother to allow her a calm calving experience, which apparently took a few hours, per the Safari.
Rihanna is a southern white rhinoceros, which is a subspecies of the white rhinoceros. In the 19th century they almost became extinct, with a population of fewer than 100 due to sport hunting and land clearance in Africa. Species of the southern white rhinoceros were taken into conservation and are today estimated to number 18,000.
