The Fort Worth Zoo needs help naming an endangered baby rhino.
The unnamed rhino calf was born at the zoo Aug. 16 and is a rare greater one-horned rhinoceros. She is the first of her species to be born in Texas.
To commemorate the birth, the zoo wants people to help choose the calf's name. They've picked out five possible names and want the public to vote on their favorite. The names are Asha, Baka, Chori, Kumari and Maja. The names mean hope, promise, daughter, princess and happiness, respectively.
To vote for your favorite, visit the Fort Worth Zoo's Facebook page and choose the name you like best before the Sept. 20 deadline.
The name that receives the most votes will be the little girl's new name and a grand prize winner will be determined by a random drawing among all entries of the winning name.
The winner and winning name will be announced Sept. 21.
“This birth is a tremendous milestone for the Fort Worth Zoo,” said Zoo Executive Director Michael Fouraker. “We are excited to continue our commitment to the conservation of this endangered species.”
The baby was born to 25-year-old mom Shanti and 22-year-old dad Arun. It is the fifth successful offspring for mom, who is on loan from the San Francisco Zoo, and the 27th for dad who has lived in Fort Worth since 1990.
The one-horned species is named for the single horn atop their head, which can grow to 2 feet in length. They also have thick folds of skin on their body that make it appear as if they are wearing armor.
Rhino babies weigh a whopping 130 pounds on average when they are born and can grow up to 2 tons, or 4,000 pounds.
The zoo said the mother and calf are doing well and can now be seen on exhibit in the Zoo’s Asian Falls Exhibit.
