ZOO NEWS

Info Related to this News

Animals:
Southern White Rhinoceros

Australia Zoo is pleased to announce the birth of our 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.

For the time being Inyeti and her calf will spend time bonding and will remain off display, but you can keep up to date via www.australiazoo.com.au or the Australia Zoo Facebook Page.