\u201cRhino love is not champagne and roses,\u201d Bobko said. \u201cIt\u2019s a battle zone.\u201d <\/p>\n
Though Utenzi arrived to Chicago in 2022, Lincoln Park Zoo waited for him to settle into his new home while introducing him to Kapuki slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because bad introductions can end in charging, breeding is a delicate process. Utenzi and Kapuki first smelled and saw each other while separated before moving to partial physical contact through a barrier. During these interactions, Kutilek and her team watched Utenzi for signs of interest: calling for Kapuki, smelling her urine, defecating almost constantly and dragging his feet to leave his scent \u2014 the rhino equivalent of giving someone your letterman\u2019s jacket to let other males know she\u2019s off the market.<\/p>\n
When the rhinos finally met in the same space, they roared, chased and sparred. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese females want to know that they have the biggest and the best,\u201d Bobko said. \u201cSo they\u2019re going to test these guys.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kapuki-and-calf-1-1024x768.jpg\")
The birth of Lincoln Park Zoo rhino Kapuki\u2019s (pictured at right) new calf (left) is critical for the endangered eastern black rhinoceros species. Credit: Lincoln Park Zoo<\/p>\n
When To Announce The Pregnancy<\/strong><\/p>\n Unlike the second trimester custom for announcing human pregnancies, zookeepers don\u2019t consider a certain benchmark \u201csafe\u201d to publicly share the good news. Because rhinos can experience stillbirths, miscarriages and even fetal reabsorption, \u201cat no point are you completely relaxed during that 16-month gestation,\u201d Bobko said.<\/p>\n False pregnancies are also a real concern, Kutilek said. Lincoln Park Zoo used a hormonal profile to identify Kapuki as \u201cwith rhino,\u201d but sometimes a failed ovulation can create the same results. In the first three months, zookeepers can use a noninvasive transrectal ultrasound to verify the pregnancy, but Kapuki\u2019s changed behavior made Kutilek\u2019s team confident enough to rely on the hormone analysis alone.<\/p>\n Expecting rhinos don\u2019t crave fried pickles at 2 a.m. or experience major mood swings, but they eventually move more slowly in the last stretch of pregnancy. Carrying a 60-pound calf will do that to a mother. In Kapuki\u2019s case, Kutilek had another major clue that the gentle giant was pregnant: the father\u2019s indifference to the mother. <\/p>\n \u201cUtenzi (and Kapuki) were housed in the same barn, and he had no interest in her,\u201d Kutilek said, explaining that a male rhino is uninterested in being a family man. They neither mate with a pregnant mother nor raise the calf once it\u2019s born.<\/p>\n No Gender Reveal Parties<\/strong><\/p>\n No blue balloons or pink cupcakes \u2014 the female calf\u2019s gender was a surprise. After five to seven months, the calf became too big to see much beyond bones on an ultrasound, Kutilek said.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the next few weeks, baby and mother rhino will stay behind the scenes and away from public view. The zoo will give them as much space as possible, having monitored even the birth remotely by camera. <\/p>\n \u201cWe try to stay pretty hands off unless we need to,\u201d Kutilek said. \u201cWe want to make sure that bond between the mom and the calf is there and that it\u2019s really strong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Instinctually, in about two years, Kapuki will begin preparing for another potential pregnancy, even though zoo logistics will prevent her from breeding again immediately. Though eastern black rhinos are solitary animals, since the calf is female, Kapuki will allow it to stay close for two more years.\u00a0<\/p>\n If the offspring had been male, though, she\u2019d have nursed him for one to two years and sent him on his way. Kapuki\u2019s first calf, King, was sent out on his own by his mother well before reaching 2.<\/p>\n \u201cAt 15 months, she was like, \u2018You\u2019re out of here,\u2019\u201d Kutilek said, \u201cShe just wouldn\u2019t let him in the barn one day.\u201d <\/p>\n Just as human parents soften with successive children, though, Kapuki let Romeo, her second calf, nurse until the zoo separated them around 22 months.<\/p>\n More Than A Notes App Baby Name List\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/rhino-calf1-e1775580083599-1024x683.jpg\")
Lincoln Park Zoo\u2019s new black rhino calf weighed around 60 pounds at birth and took her first steps just an hour and a half after being born. Credit: Lincoln Park Zoo<\/p>\n