While the giant bundle of jot doesn't have a name yet, he's sure to be stealing more than a few hearts at the Bedfordshire Zoo.
Video: ZSL
Video: ZSL
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NewsTranscript
00:00We are very excited here at Whipsnade because we have just had a baby southern white rhino.
00:08Seven-year-old Fahari has given birth to a very small, very petite little baby boy.
00:14It was a smooth birth. We were able to watch, albeit remotely, on CCTV.
00:19Just wanted to keep our distance and make sure that everything was nice and quiet and calm,
00:23but we were nearby. We did need to help out in any way, but Fahari was great. She was a superstar,
00:28so she delivered the baby swiftly, and everything went as planned.
00:32Mum and baby are getting on great. Obviously, again, being a first-time mum, Fahari's had a lot
00:36to learn, but she's doing really well. Baby's doing really well as well. He takes a lot of milk.
00:42It's a lot of growing to be done at that age, and that takes a lot of energy. So as a team,
00:46they've finally cracked it, and they're getting on great. Dad, Nsizwa, who we call Sizzle for short.
00:52Sizzle has been quite prolific over the years. This is calf 16, so Sizzle has done a really
00:58good job here at Whipsnade. The southern white rhino here at Whipsnade, and across Europe,
01:02are part of a conservation breeding program. In the wild, the southern white rhino are near
01:07threatened. Threats like poaching and habitat loss have really kind of encroached on the numbers of
01:12these guys out in the wild. So that's why it's really important that we breed a really viable
01:16and genetically diverse backup population in zoos across Europe. So our new arrival,
01:23along with seven-month-old Benja, and even three-year-old Nandi, have proven to be,
01:28they're going to be valuable members of that breeding program. Visitors can expect to see
01:31the new baby boy quite soon. We're monitoring him and mum closely. He will be inside the house
01:36while he finds his feet. Hopefully he'll be outside in the paddock with the rest of the
01:40group by October half-term, but that's very weather dependent because he's a very small rhino.