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Baby white rhino is 54th born at zoo
Wednesday 23 January 2008
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo has a new arrival – a bouncing baby white rhino. The lively calf is already gamboling around its winter quarters watched carefully by proud mum Nowana. Watch a video of the new calf here.
© John O’Reilly
The male calf was born on December 28th 2007 and is Nowana’s third calf and the 54th African white rhino born at the zoo.
The youngster weighs approximately 45-50kg and was born after a 500-day gestation period.
Cliff Tack, team leader on the Africa section said: “This is a very important birth for the European breeding programme and is good news for Whipsnade as it continues the long-running success we have had with breeding this species. We are thrilled to welcome this new addition to the herd.”
The two-horned white rhino is one of five species of rhino. It has a distinctive hump of ligaments on its neck which helps to support the weight of its large head. After a gestation period of 16 months, rhinos generally give birth to a single calf.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo has contributed greatly to the conservation of the southern white rhino ceratotherium simum simum by breeding 54 white rhino since 1970. The herd at the zoo consists of nine rhinos, two males, six females and one calf.
Watch a video of our new calf:
