Adorable baby white rhino makes public debut at zoo

By Faye Mayern via SWNS

An adorable baby white rhino has been pictured for the first time since he was born at a zoo.

The male calf, who has not yet been named, was born on October 2 at Whipsnade Zoo in Beds to parents Fahari and Sizzle.

He weighs less than 50kg making him smaller than other calves born at the zoo but his keeper said he has a "very healthy appetite".

Southern white rhinos, native to South Africa, are threatened by illegal hunting to supply the international rhino horn trade.

The calf's mom, seven-year-old Fahari, went into labor after a 16-month gestation period and staff was originally concerned he was not feeding correctly.

Rhino keeper Alex Simpson said: "Fahari is already proving to be a protective mum and likes to keep her baby in her eyeline.

"But to suckle, he needs to stand under her belly and by her back legs, so we think at first they were struggling to work out the logistics of everything.

"But he’s feeding well now, and it's really sweet to see them figure out all these new experiences together.

"The calf is smaller than some of the previous calves that have been born here, but he has a very healthy appetite.

"You can hear him making little noises, almost like whale song, when he wants milk - and we’ve even seen him stomp his comically large feet a few times when he is impatient for food.”

The bundle of joy joins his seven-month-old half-brother, Benja, who was born in March.

Whipsnade Zoo hopes the calf will be able to join the rest of his family by the end of October but for now he is exploring his indoor den.

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