This is great news! Lion Country Safari welcomed a male Southern White Rhinoceros calf to its herd last month. The calf is one of very few third generation white rhinoceroses born in human care and is highly genetically valuable regarding the survival of the species. Both the calf and mom are now located in the rhino maternity area where they can spend some quality time bonding together. The maternity area is visible to guests in their cars from the road in the Hwange National Park section of the drive-through safari.
The baby, named Bash (a name with African origins that means “the forerunner”), was born to mom Anna after 16 months of gestation. Bash is the first offspring of both Anna and dad, Chitabe. It is expected that Bash will gain 3-4 pounds a day from his mother's milk, and will gain about a thousand pounds a year for the first three years.Baby rhinos nurse for almost two years.
Of the 5 species of rhinos (White, Black, Indian, Sumatran and Javan) the white rhino is the most abundant with approximately 20,000 alive today but all 5 species are in peril due mostly to poaching. The Southern White Rhino is the only species of rhino that eats only grasses; the others are also browsers.
For more information on rhinos, visit the International Rhino Foundation and Save the Rhinos
Photo Credit: Lion Country Safari
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