Quad-Cities zoo welcomes first rhino

COAL VALLEY, Ill. — A 2-year-old rhinoceros made its public debut at a Quad-Cities zoo on Friday.

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Keto, a male southern white rhino, arrived this week and was introduced at the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois, the Quad-Cities Times reported. It is the first rhino in the history of the zoo, officials said.

Zoo officials were able to bring Keto to the zoo after a fundraising event that began last December, zoo director Lee Jackson said in a news release.

“We are absolutely thrilled to be given the opportunity to share such an iconic mega vertebrate to the Quad-Cities community, and play a real role in their ongoing conservation efforts,” Jackson said in the release. “This will be the first time that this or any rhinoceros’ species will have been kept at Niabi, and we are beyond excited to be able to share these magnificent animals with our community.

“Keto is only the beginning. We hope to have a female join him here by early summer of 2022 with the goal of eventually producing offspring in the future.”

According to National Geographic, the southern white rhinoceros can live 40 years, grow up to 12 feet and weigh up to 7,900 pounds. During the early 1980s, the species was in danger of extinction, with only 50 in the world, the magazine reported.

Now, there are more than 20,000, according to National Geographic.  

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