WHAT A CUTIE

Sumatran Rhino Birth Is “Beacon of Hope” for Nearly Extinct Species

Though poaching and habitat destruction have nearly wiped out Sumatran rhinos, a rhino calf was born Saturday at an Indonesian national park.

A Sumatran rhinoceros calf was born on Saturday at an Indonesian national park in what the International Rhino Foundation says is a “beacon of hope” for a species that is nearly extinct. Sumatran rhinos are closely related to wooly rhinos and normally live in dense forests across Southeast Asia. But due to poaching and humans encroaching on their habitat, the species has been threatened to the brink of extinction in recent years. The female rhino born Saturday, who has yet to be named, is the third rhino born to an Indonesian rhino and a rhino from the Cincinnati Zoo. She reportedly stood up and fed from her mother only four hours after she was born. Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Indonesia's environment and forestry minister, called the rhino's birth “happy news not just for Indonesia but the rest of the world.”