Even though she’s just a wee newborn, this rhino baby has already learned one of THE most important things about being alive:
ZOOOOOOMIES!
When Jamila, a Southern white rhinoceros who lives at the Auckland Zoo in New Zealand, showed signs that she was about ready to pop, caretakers patiently waited for the zoo’s newest addition to finally arrive.
Luckily, the hefty 143-pound calf she gave birth to was more than ready to enter the world and get the party started.
And people can’t get enough of her adorable antics!
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Rhinoceros pregnancies generally last about 16 months, and that’s quite a long time for anyone to stay put in one place.
After being holed up in one spot for months on end, it’s no wonder this goober can’t stop racing rings around her mama.
Jamila had previously given birth to her first baby, Nyah, a couple of years prior, and she was the first rhino to have been born at the Auckland Zoo in 20 years.
But this third addition to the family may be a little bit too extra for anyone to handle.
Ungulates team lead Tommy Karlsson and his colleagues decided to name the baby rhino Amali, which means ‘hope’ in Swahili.
“We think it’s a beautiful name with a great meaning. Welcoming a new rhino into the world is always cause for hope for the future of this species, and it’s our hope that as an advocate for her wild counterparts she inspires our visitors to care about these incredible animals.”
The Southern white rhino is currently a threatened species with only about 18,000 left on the planet.
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Ungulates, in case you’re wondering, are mammals with hooves. That includes animals like horses, camels, deer, hippos, and of course, rhinoceros.
But, if we didn’t all know better, we’d say this goofy girl was actually just a really big puppy…with overgrown toenails.
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According to Dr. Pamela J. Perry, a dog doing zoomies is a “way to release pent-up energy, or perhaps, to alleviate stress.”
It’s a way for them to expend energy after hours of being stuck at home with no stimulation while their parents are away.
Although this behavior is most often seen in dogs and cats, apparently, the same “exploding ball of energy” gene is also abundant in wildlife.
This pint-sized powerhouse is just so happy to be alive she’s expressing her joy the only way she knows how.
Mom, on the other hand, is completely unaffected by her baby doing sprints around an imaginary racetrack. In the video, you can see that she calmly and nonchalantly chews her food like she’s seen this a billion times before.
And now, it’s a billion and one times.
As for Amali’s bigger sister Nyah, “We expect that she and Amali will become great mates and enjoy playing, running around and going into the mud wallow together,” said Tommy Karlsson.
You can find out more about the Auckland Zoo and see photos of their animals on Instagram.
Watch the video below to see this newborn zooming around like an excited puppy.
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