Australia Zoo is pleased to announce the birth of their second rhino calf, a beautiful baby girl. The gorgeous female calf, born yesterday, Thursday 7 February at AEST 11.30am, is the first offspring for Australia Zoo’s rhino, Inyeti and DJ.
She also arrived just in time for Valentine’s Day.
According to Australia Zoo keeper, Renee Schier, mum and bub are making great progress.
“We’re very excited to announce that Inyeti, our southern white rhinoceros, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl yesterday. The calf is healthy, strong and weighs between 45 – 50kgs,” said Renee.
Despite arriving a little earlier than anticipated the rhino is showing all of the normal signs for a healthy calf.
“We’re really happy with her progress. She is already feeding and is quite active – she was walking within hours of the birth,” added Renee.
This is Inyeti’s first calf, and only the second rhino to be born at Australia Zoo and Queensland. One of our other Australia Zoo rhinos, Caballe, is also expecting a baby in the near future!
Inyeti and DJ are southern white rhinoceros, a species listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to poaching threats and illegal use of rhino horn.
“There are approximately 18 – 20,000 rhino left in the wild and another 780 in captivity. We’re excited to be part of breeding efforts to preserve rhino populations around the world,” said Renee.
Australia Zoo is part of a regional co-operative programme working with other zoos in Australasia to maximize breeding potential and genetic diversity of the white rhino.
To celebrate the new arrival, Australia Zoo is offering the public a chance to name the gorgeous new calf in a Facebook competition. The competition runs from Friday 8 February through until Monday 18 February. Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin will announce the lucky winner.
Inyeti and the calf will spend time bonding and will remain off display. The public can keep up to date with the new calf by visiting www.australiazoo.com.au or the Australia Zoo Facebook site.
All images supplied by Australia Zoo.