Newborn white rhinoceros Silverio has taken his first giant steps in public at the Chilean zoo where he was born. His birth to his mother Hannah last week was the first for a white rhino in South America and is a boost for his nearly endangered species. The Buin Zoo in Santiago said Silverio's birth was a “big achievement” for efforts to conserve rhinos. Fewer and fewer white rhinos are roaming the African plains and the species is threatened by poaching. Northern white rhinos have effectively gone extinct, and their close cousins, the southern white rhinos, are classified as “nearly endangered.” There are just over 10,000 southern white rhinos left in the world, and most are in zoos.
