‘90 Pounds of Love’ : A Rare Indian Rhino Bears a Calf at L.A. Zoo

A rare Indian rhinoceros has given birth to a 90-pound male calf at the Los Angeles Zoo after a record 515-day pregnancy, zoo officials announced Monday.

“He’s 90 pounds of love,” June Bottcher, special program assistant at the zoo, said of the youngster born Sunday.

Radha, the calf’s mother, gave birth to her first offspring in 1982 after a 496-day pregnancy, zoo official Lora LaMarca said.

The rhinoceros has one of the longest gestation periods of any animal, about the same as whales and giraffes, she explained. The elephant tops the list with an average 670-day gestation period.

The baby rhino, named Chandra after a Nepalese prince, was born at 10:01 a.m. Sunday, LaMarca said.

Chandra is apparently in good health, but “his back legs are a little wobbly,” she said.

Springtime Rendezvous

The calf was conceived during an hourlong rendezvous a year ago last spring between 17-year-old Radha and her 20-year-old companion, Herman.

Only two other U.S. zoos--the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the National Zoo in Washington--have been successful in breeding Indian rhinoceroses, LaMarca said. The species is becoming rarer as humans continue to kill the animals for their meat and horns, she said.

Presently, there are between 1,500 and 1,700 Indian rhinos remaining in the world--most of them on reserves in India and Nepal, LaMarca said. The animals are distinguishable from other types of rhinoceroses by the armor-like appearance of their skin.