Adorable baby rhino takes first steps at zoo near Cambridgeshire as public asked for help naming him

Cait Findlay
·2-min read

It has been a great few months for lovers of baby animals. First Moo Deng, a pygmy hippo born in a zoo in Thailand, stole hearts after videos and photographs went viral - with Pesto the penguin in Australia also shooting to worldwide fame.

Just a few days ago a second pygmy hippo, this one named Haggis, hit the headlines after Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland shared videos of the animal outside. But the next potential animal sensation has been born much closer to home - and you can help choose a name for him.

A baby rhino has taken his first steps outside at a zoo near Cambridgeshire. The one-month-old southern white rhino calf has been pictured exploring his paddock at Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable for the first time.

READ MORE:Cambridgeshire firefighters rescue muntjac trapped between shed and fence

READ MORE:Heal's pre-Black Friday sale offers up to 30% off luxury furniture, homewares and more

The baby boy, who has not yet been named, was born on October 2 to mum Fahari. He has only recently started to venture outside his cosy den but enjoyed wallowing in the muddy puddles of the paddock.

Rhino keeper Michael Hepher said: “It's been amazing to see our newest rhino calf tearing around the paddock with mum today, he’s well and truly found his feet. He’s getting more confident each day and is getting more curious about the world around him.

"We've seen him chasing the antelope, and having great fun getting covered in mud, a favourite past-time of all our rhinos here at Whipsnade Zoo. We’ve been waiting for a relatively warm and dry day to let the calf into the great outdoors for the first time, so the stars really had to align for that to happen in November!"

There are just 17,500 southern white rhinos left in the wild. The baby will join the European breeding programme which helps to create a genetically diverse and healthy back up population in conservation zoos like Whipsnade.

The calf with mum Fahari
The calf with mum Fahari -Credit:Whipsnade Zoo/Dominic Lipinski

Keepers have asked the public for help to name the calf. Members of the public can vote for their favourite name on the zoo website.

"Naming the baby is a special thing for the team, and we’d love the public to get involved with helping pick a name that suits him," Michael said. He’s not only an important addition to the conservation breeding programme for his species, but he’s also a great ambassador to educate the public about the threats rhinos in the wild, such as poaching, habitat loss and climate change, and what they can do to help."

Latest stories

  • Scientists gather to decode puzzle of the world's rarest whale in 'extraordinary' New Zealand study

    It is the world’s rarest whale, with only seven of its kind ever spotted. “I can’t tell you how extraordinary it is,” said a joyful Anton van Helden, senior marine science adviser for New Zealand’s conservation agency, who gave the spade-toothed whale its name to distinguish it from other beaked species. Van Helden has studied beaked whales for 35 years, but Monday was the first time he has participated in a dissection of the spade-toothed variety.

  • Scientists sound alarm about terrifying ocean event that could bring global devastation

    The collapse of critical ocean circulation could bring major droughts and freezing temperatures across Europe

  • UK weather: Met Office gives snow verdict amid reports of 168-hour 'non-stop blizzards'

    The Met Office has shared its long range weather forecast for December

  • Locals in UK town that were 'terrorised by fish-eating otters' say they've returned

    Several locals who live in Ulverston, UK, reported the animals were breaking into their ponds and killing their Koi Carp fish in October. Nobody in the local area saw the otters for a few weeks, so residents assumed that the animals had died. However, shocking CCTV footage captured in the early hours of Friday, November 29, morning shows the otter going onto the garden before being scared off.

  • Bear chases moose family into pond

    This is the moment a bear chased a small herd of three moose into a pond in Yukon, Canada on July 17. One of the moose turned around and challenged the bear, causing it to give up on its pursuit.

  • Met Office map shows blast of Arctic air sweeping over UK as temperatures to plummet to -7C after mild weekend

    The cold snap might not last long

  • UK weather: Snow forecast as Britain faces chilly week with Met Office predicting -7C frost

    Temperatures to plunge after mild weekend weather with snow forecast for Scotland and northern England

  • Miliband’s green energy plans only ‘artificially’ cheaper than nuclear or gas

    Ed Miliband’s plans for green energy are based on assumptions that make them appear “artificially cheaper” than nuclear or gas, according to critics.

  • ‘It just keeps coming and coming’: Heavy lake-effect snow dumps more than 4 feet over parts of Great Lakes region

    Post-Thanksgiving travel will be treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region on Sunday due to several feet of lake-effect snow, while biting cold temperatures sweep across a large swath of the United States.

  • Met Office warns snow will return to parts of UK within days

    The weather will 'turn colder' as we head into next week

  • Rhodes: British holidaymakers issued with torrential rain warning amid deadly Storm Bora flooding

    Holidaymakers are being warned of flooded properties and streets and possible power cuts as Storm Bora hits

  • Can the Panama Canal reinvent itself before the next drought?

    STORY: :: Tres Hermanas, Panama This unpaved road crosses the rural and self-sustaining Tres Hermanas community in Panama. But these lush valleys, home to dozens of towns, will be submerged if the Panama Canal Authority moves ahead with a plan to build a massive reservoir on the Indio River. :: Rodolfo Hernandez, Tres Hermanas resident “All that you see here, the green trees seen throughout this area, everything would be lost.” Rodolfo Hernandez is a local resident. “…The Indio River community has not yet said yes to them.” The proposal to dam the river over the next six years pits the future of thousands of people against the water needs of the powerful Canal Authority. Some don’t want to leave. Others are focused on getting fair compensation if they are forced to move. And public opposition could derail the entire project. :: Lake Alajuela, PanamaBut with more extreme weather seen over the last decade set to continue, the $1.6 billion dollar proposal seems as necessary as it seems extreme. :: Record-setting droughtTres Hermanas sits here. The state-owned Canal Authority aims to create a vast dam on the Rio Indio to secure extra freshwater. The 50-mile-long artificial waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans relies on freshwater to operate its locks and, the Authority says, provide drinking water. Ricaurte Vazquez is the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority. :: Ricaurte Vazquez, Administrator, Panama Canal Authority “…And that imposes a relative disadvantage in relation to all other maritime navigation systems in the world." :: Panama Canal AuthorityWhy? Because last year was the third driest year in the canal’s 110-year history. :: Lake Gatun, PanamaAnd meteorologists forecast more severe droughts and faster water evaporation amid hotter temperatures. The waterway is Panama’s main source of hard-currency revenue and accounts for 3.1% of the country’s GDP. It is critical to U.S. imports of vehicle and commercial goods from Asia, and for U.S. exports of commodities, including liquefied natural gas. The latest drought forced vessel traffic to be restricted. But the new plan would allow up to 15 extra canal transits a day during the dry season. The Authority believes the Rio Indio reservoir project is the most complete solution to more frequent droughts. VAZQUEZ: "We understand that this is the most important challenge to maintain the canal's sustainability in the long term in the face of demand, due to Panama's population growth, which will require fresh drinking water for its consumption and that leads us to the national conversation of how to tackle this problem." :: Approvals and relocation The project must still pass a long approval process, including a public consultation. But some infrastructure work, including a bridge, is already visible. The Ministry of Public Works has said the bridge is for cars and people to cross the river. Ilya Espino de Marotta is the canal’s deputy administrator. :: Ilya Espino de Marotta, Deputy Administrator, Panama Canal Authority "Of course, the most complicated part is the process of resettling people. These are conversations that need to be held individually with each family...” To contain the Rio Indio, some 2,260 people would have to be relocated, according to an initial survey by the Canal Authority. 2,000 more would be at least partially impacted. A more accurate census should be completed in January. The project has set aside $400 million, mainly for relocations. But opinions are divided. Some would be willing to sell their land, while others want to fight the project. Dilubino Agraje Dominguez represents the Rio Indio communities through the activist group Countrymen Coordinator for Life. :: Dilubino Agraje Dominguez, Representative, Rio Indio communities"The countryside, nature, their peace for life, for work is what makes them happy. You can show them beautiful, modern things, all well-arranged, but it is not the same for the resident who is used to living under his thatched roof, taking his time to go to the mountain and resting at home whichever day he wants…” The shipping industry is apprehensive.:: November 8, 2023The country’s Supreme Court recently suspended a controversial mining contract with Canada's First Quantum Minerals, after broad public opposition. And instrumental in blocking the contract was Countrymen Coordinator for Life. :: Another option There is an alternative: to transfer water from an existing reservoir fed by the Bayano River. This plan could be finished sooner, without relocations, and is gaining traction among local communities. “There is a real importance to maintain healthy rivers...” Professor LeRoy Poff is an expert on aquatic ecology from the University of Colorado. “I think from an environmental damage point of view that this dam has many negative impacts and very few positive benefits that couldn't be acquired through this alternative project.” :: Panama Canal AuthorityBut the Canal Authority discarded the Bayano option 8 years ago over higher costs and its location. And lawyers say it could mean complicated negotiations with the hydroelectric power providers involved. Faced with a changing climate, Deputy Administrator Espino thinks both projects will be needed in the long run. Ahead of the next drought, the Canal wants shippers to consolidate cargoes and could deploy water recycling measures, if needed.For residents of Tres Hermanas, resource-intense expansion must have a limit. HERNANDEZ: "We are not against the progress of our country, our country must progress, but it must be according to what is necessary and not harming its people."

  • Dead shark found on man's lawn 10 miles from sea

    A dead shark was found on a man’s lawn around 10 miles away from the sea.

  • Snow to hit parts of Scotland as temperatures drop below freezing

    Temperatures in parts of Scotland could hit as low as -8 degrees celcius as the colder winter weather hits the country.

  • The vast, beautiful part of Wales that developers want to blanket with black solar panels

    The Gwent Levels is vast, stretching along the banks of the Severn between Cardiff and Chepstow. If developers' applications are approved, it could become the UK's capital of solar energy. Our map shows where they would all go.

  • Nearly two million people remain under lake-effect snow warnings

    Nearly two million people remain under lake-effect snow warnings through early Monday. CNN’s Polo Sandoval reports.

  • At least 13 people dead as Thailand and Malaysia face worst floods in decades

    Hundreds of thousands of people displaced due to floods in Southeast Asia

  • New Zealand scientists dissect world's rarest whale

    New Zealand scientists on Monday began dissecting a whale considered the rarest in the world, a species so elusive that only seven specimens have ever been documented. "This one is the rarest of the rare -- only the seventh specimen known from anywhere in the world, and the first opportunity we have had to undertake a dissection like this." 

  • Met Office warns temperatures could drop to as low as -7C within days

    Despite a mild weekend parts of the UK will have freezing weather this week

  • At least two people killed in Greece as Storm Bora sparks warnings

    Greece's civil protection service says they have issued an emergency alert, warning of torrential rains and strong winds in the northeast, the centre, and the region around Athens.View on euronews