Pairi Daiza welcomes baby rhinoceros
A southern white rhinoceros was born at Pairi Daiza on 10 December. The calf is the third offspring of Madiba and already weighs just over 60 kilograms. Its sex will be announced on Tuesday, and visitors will be invited to choose the calf’s name via the park’s official Facebook page.
For the time being, the calf and Madiba are staying indoors, close to Joby, the 24-year-old father. “The calf is in excellent health and began suckling colostrum immediately. It currently weighs just over 60.5 kilograms. Madiba is caring for it very well,” said Francesco Zinno, veterinarian at Pairi Daiza.
The calf’s sex will be revealed on Tuesday via Pairi Daiza’s YouTube channel. The public will be able to vote for a first name on the park’s official Dutch-language Facebook page.
The southern white rhinoceros is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros, and almost all living white rhinos belong to this subspecies. They are heavier than the northern white rhinoceros.
Poaching and illegal trade
In the wild, the southern white rhinoceros remains under severe threat from poaching, driven by the illegal trade in horn, as well as from the gradual loss of habitat. Despite decades of conservation efforts, an average of one rhinoceros is still killed every day in South Africa for its horn, which can fetch a higher price than gold on the illegal market.
Some reserves remove rhino horns to make the animals less attractive to poachers. This year, a new project was also launched in which small amounts of radioactive material are injected into horns, rendering them unusable and easy to detect during smuggling attempts.
Once on the brink of extinction, the subspecies is now estimated at around 18,000 individuals worldwide, thanks to sustained conservation efforts. The calf born at Pairi Daiza will serve as a new ambassador for the species, helping to raise public awareness of the urgent need to protect rhinoceroses in their natural habitats.
© BELGA
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