North America’s oldest black rhino turns 45

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Zoo celebrated the 45th birthday of the oldest black rhinoceros in North America with a special cake of rolled oats and molasses.

The date of Elly’s birth isn’t known, as she was born in the wild. But she has lived at the zoo since April 1974. She has given birth to 14 calves, helping preserve a species that numbered 200,000 before 1960 in parts of Africa. The number has fallen to 3,000 to 5,000 due to poaching, said zoo curator Jim Nappi.