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Baby black rhinoceros loves nose rubs, bonding with mom

Posted at 1:25 PM, May 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-23 14:26:44-04

A male black rhinoceros was born at the St. Louis Zoo on May 17.

It's only the second such birth in 26 years at the zoo.

The zoo named the rhino Moyo, which means "heart" in Swahili. In the days since his birth, he's been bonding with his mother, Kati Rain, behind the scenes.

In 2011, another male rhino named Ruka was born to the same parents. Ruka since moved to the Oregon Zoo in 2015 to be paired with a female as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Black Rhino Species Survival Plan.

The endangered black rhino has experienced the most drastic decline of any of the five surviving rhino species, according to the zoo.

Between 1970 and 1992, the black rhino population in Africa dropped by 96 percent. By 1993, only 2,300 black rhinos survived in the wild.