Cotswold Wildlife Park celebrates first male rhino birth!

Cotswold Wildlife Park recently celebrated two incredible milestones. First-time mother Ruby gave birth to the park’s first male rhino on the same day the park celebrated its 45th anniversary.

Keepers and a few lucky visitors were present when Ruby gave birth at 12.30pm on Friday 27th March. In less than ten minutes, the fifteen-month pregnancy was over and, thankfully, after a relatively quick labour, a new baby was welcomed into the family-run Burford collection.

Keeper Chris Kibbey caught the special moment on film and it can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-yEFvriqa4

Curator of Cotswold Wildlife Park, Jamie Craig, commented: “Although we were expecting the birth, it still took us by surprise at the time – after careful preparations for a nice, quiet arrival, Ian was born in full view of many of the staff here!”

The calf has been named Ian in memory of the highly respected South African conservationist, Ian Player, who spearheaded efforts to rescue the Southern White Rhino from extinction. The park’s original rhino pair, called Lebombo and Somtuli, arrived from Umfolozi in 1972 as a direct result of Ian’s rhino conservation initiatives with South Africa’s Natal Parks Board. His memory

Father Monty and Ruby are both nine years old. In 2009, Ruby (alongwith another female called Nancy) made the 11,000 kilometre journey from Mafunyane Game Farm in South Africa to the UK to join young male Monty at their new Oxfordshire home. It was hoped that, one day, they would successfully produce the park’s first ever rhino calf. Monty has since fathered two calves. Nancy gave birth to Astrid on 1st July 2013 and Ian followed twenty months later.

Females only reproduce every two-and-a-half to five years, so the window of opportunity for successful reproduction is limited. Unbelievably, these iconic animals were once the rarest subspecies of any rhino and were on the verge of extinction in the early 1900s, when it was believed only 20 to 50 animals remained in their native African homeland. Thanks to excellent and sustained protection, they are now the most common of the five rhino subspecies, although poaching in the last five years has once again escalated to serious levels, driven by demand for rhino horn from the traditional medicine market of China and the Far East.

Visitors can see the new calf daily from 10am to 6pm (last entry at 4.30pm) in the solar powered Rhino House.

Pictures and video courtesy of Cotswold Wildlife Park.

FACT FILE:

Ruby was named after writer, comedienne and long-time friend of the park Ruby Wax, back in 2009.

Cotswold Wildlife Park works closely with the Tusk Trust to promote vital conservation work. Find out more at http://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/conservation and www.tusk.org.

White rhinos are the largest of the five rhino species and range throughout the grassland of Southern Africa.

The name ‘rhinoceros’ translates directly from Greek as ‘nose-horn’.

These iconic animals were one of the first large mammals in the collection, soon after founder of Cotswold Wildlife Park, Mr John Heyworth, first opened the park to the public in 1970. His son Reggie now runs the park.