The Toronto Zoo welcomed a rare baby late Christmas Eve, marking the first time a white rhinoceros was born at the zoo in 27 years.

Zohari, the seven-year-old mother, was pregnant for 16 months with the baby, but labour only lasted an hour and 20 minutes. The veterinary staff had been monitoring the mother constantly for three weeks prior to the birth to ensure she was healthy and to be ready when she went into labour.

"It was a relief to everyone, especially because she has been such an amazing mother so far," said Pauline Delnatte, one of the veterinarians at the Toronto Zoo.

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The still-unnamed male baby was born at 62.3 kilograms, which is a heavy but healthy birth weight for a baby rhino, but nothing compared with his 2,100-kilogram mother. The baby was up and walking within an hour of his birth and he has hairy ears.

Since some animals don't always take to mothering, the veterinary staff were watching closely to see how Zohari would react to her new baby. But right after the birth, she turned around, licked her newborn and made sure he was dry, an encouraging sign, Ms. Delnatte said.

The next month will be critical, Ms. Delnatte said, and they will be closely monitoring the baby rhino to ensure he is healthy.

"Like any baby, you want to make sure he's getting strong," she said. The baby rhino is expected to gain weight at a rate of one to two kilograms a day.

While this new baby will not be released into the wild, his birth marks an important step in conserving the genetics of white rhinos, Ms. Delnatte said.

White rhinoceroses were almost extinct from their territories of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya in the late 1800s, with fewer than 100 individuals found in the wild. The animals were – and still are – poached for their horns, which are sold on the black market as medicine and as ornaments.

As of 2016, white rhinoceros numbers have bounced back to a population of around 20,000 in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), although poaching is on the rise again.

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As part of a plan to aid conservation of the white rhinoceros, the Toronto Zoo is trying to preserve healthy genetics of the species through breeding, Ms. Delnatte said. The new baby rhino is parented by a "highly recommended pair," she continued, so he has valuable genetics.

The last white rhinoceros was born at the Toronto Zoo in 1990, a male named Atu who is now at Parc Safari Zoo in Quebec. This latest baby is the fifth white rhinoceros born at the zoo since it opened more than 40 years ago.

The new rhino has not been named yet, but several African translations of different words are being discussed. Ms. Delnatte said that, given he was born on Christmas Eve, is the first born and "is adorable," there are plenty of name options to choose from.