By Dan Klepal
Enquirer staff writer

NAME THE RHINO

The Cincinnati Zoo wants your help in naming its three-week-old Sumatran Rhino calf. To submit a name, go to Web site. Deadline for submissions is 6 p.m. Aug. 29. Winners will be announced Sept. 3. Here are a few of the more than 3,000 names submitted so far: • "Empuh." Combination of parents names." • "Matahari." Indonesian for sun. • "Maupin." In honor of Matt Maupin. • "Bhutan." The kingdom in the Himalayas where the Sumatran rhino is found. • "Anai." For the Anai Gorge, the ancient passageway between the coast and the highlands in Sumatra. • "Indah Bayi Badak." Indonesian translation of "Beautiful Baby Rhino." • "Tammy Rhinette." "Would sound great on the news." • "Nancy Sumatra." After Nancy Sinatra. • "Tsunami." "She's making waves in the breeding world."

The world's newest Sumatran rhinoceros will get its first taste of life outside of her stall today, and visitors to the Cincinnati Zoo will get their first view of the rhino beginning 11 a.m.

The female, 130-pound calf, who was born July 30, has spent the first three weeks of her life bonding with her mother, Emi, indoors at the zoo. While the public has been able to peek in on the pair, thanks to an Internet "rhino cam" (www.aroundcinci.com) , today is the first time the history-making mother and daughter will be on view to zoo visitors.

Sumatran rhinos are one of the most endangered mammals on earth. The calf's birth was historic because it was the first time scientists have been able to twice impregnate a female in captivity, thanks to methods developed at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Emi became the first of her species to be impregnated by scientific means in captivity before giving birth to Andalas in 2001. Andalas now resides at the Los Angeles Zoo.

The pair will be on display from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. Those hours are expected to increase as they become more comfortable with their new surroundings.

The rhinos' outdoor digs are recently remodeled, complete with new rockwork, plantings, a mud wallow and a monstrous, one-of-a-kind canopy.

The canopy was recently installed after biologists at the zoo realized Emi and Ipuh, the resident male and father of both of Emi's babies, had persistent trouble with their eyes becoming inflamed.

During a visit to Malaysia, Terri Roth, director of the zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, determined that the animals' eyes are very light sensitive because they live in dense jungle.

Roth said the calf, which weighed 75 pounds at birth, is in great shape.

"She has no medical issues at all, and she's really filled out nicely," Roth said.

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com