A new female rhinoceros will soon join the Little Rock Zoo's longtime eastern black rhino, the facility announced Thursday.
The zoo said in a statement that 10-year-old Andazi was transferred from Zoo Atlanta through a program aimed at increasing the population of the "critically endangered" rhino species as well as others that are threatened.
Johari the rhino
Click here for larger versions
Johari the rhino, who is 22, has lived at Little Rock's zoo since 1996 but has never sired any offspring, the statement said.
The two rhinos are set to meet for the first time next week, the zoo said, noting the keepers "will start introductions slowly" and allow "Andazi to acclimate to her new area" first.
Only an estimated 5,000 black rhinos remain in the wild.