A Critically Endangered Black Rhino Calf Is Born at Lincoln Park Zoo

In the early hours of March 19, 2026, Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed a hefty, hopeful new arrival: a female eastern black rhinoceros calf, born to 20-year-old mother Kapuki at 4:52 a.m. and weighing roughly 60 pounds. Zoo staff kept a close eye on mother and calf through a camera system in the days that followed, and the youngster — later named Hazina, a Swahili word meaning “treasured” — quickly found her feet.

The birth is no small thing for a critically endangered animal. Eastern black rhinos number only around 1,000 individuals in their native range across Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, a fraction of their historic population. Between 1960 and 1995, relentless poaching for their horns slashed black rhino numbers by an estimated 98 percent. Decades of intensive protection have since helped the wider black rhino population recover to more than 6,700 across all subspecies — a fragile but real comeback that births like this one help sustain.

“m.”

Hazina is Kapuki’s third calf, following two earlier offspring, and her arrival was the result of a carefully considered breeding recommendation pairing Kapuki with 21-year-old Utenzi through the Eastern Black Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan. These coordinated programs across accredited zoos act as a genetic safety net, maintaining a healthy, diverse population that can support the survival of the species even as wild rhinos face ongoing threats from poaching and habitat loss.

For visitors, a baby rhino is an irresistible delight — all stubby legs, oversized ears and curiosity. But behind the charm lies a serious conservation purpose. Each calf strengthens the insurance population for one of Africa’s most imperiled large mammals and helps connect the public to the broader fight to protect rhinos in the wild. Hazina’s healthy arrival is a small but genuine victory in the long campaign to ensure black rhinos continue to roam the planet.