Baby rhino makes her debut at Lowry Park Zoo

A piece of cantaloupe was more than a 3-week-old Indian rhinoceros could handle.

But the unnamed baby's mother, Jamie, eagerly chomped and slurped on the ripe fruit, offered by Lowry Park Zoo assistant curator Chris Massaro.

"She's still nursing," said Massaro, who added that an Indian rhino could nurse up to a year.

The baby is the first rhino born at the zoo, which participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquarium Indian/Nepalese Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan.

And today she went on public display; but hours will be limited, mainly mid-morning to noon, until she and Jamie are more comfortable in front of visitors.

The baby, born July 7 after a 16-month gestation period, weighed between 75 and 80 pounds at birth. They gain an estimated 100 pounds their first month.

"She's put on a lot of size, is more curious, more active and is trotting around," Massaro said.

The baby scampered and sloshed through the mud in the exhibit area, but always returning quickly to her 8-year-old mother. Visitors, including 10-year-old Ross Edwards of Tampa, watched.

"They are just interesting animals," Ross said. "They are just really cool to watch."

"She's cute," said his mother, Holly Edwards. "She's just like any child running around and exploring."

The baby's 11-year-old father is in a separate but visible area of the exhibit, behind the mother and baby.

"They are solitary animals; the father doesn't take any role in rearing the baby," Massaro said.

The baby rhino has a little 'hump" where the single horn will grow. Zoo officials do not know when it will be prominent but it will be fully grown about age 6. The horn is made of compressed hair and are not used for protection or aggression.

There are about 2,000 Indian rhinos, also called great one-horned rhinoceros, in the wild; they are designated an endangered species as poaching and natural disasters affect the herds. About 55 are in captivity, with nine born in the last three years.

Massaro said that when the baby turns 2 she will be transferred to another zoo in hopes she can breed at about 5 years old.

In conjunction with the display of the baby, the zoo is having a naming contest through Aug. 14 on its Web site, www.lowryparkzoo.com.