'A Giant Bundle of Joy': Newborn Southern White Rhino Wobbles Around Whipsnade Zoo

A zoo in the UK has welcomed the birth of a southern white rhinoceros as part of an endangered species breeding program, describing the calf as a “giant bundle of joy.”

The calf was born at Whipsnade Zoo, in Bedfordshire, on 7 March, with a weight of 45 kg.

He was born after a “very quick” four-minute labor for 13-year-old Jaseera, who had been pregnant for 16 months, the zoo said on Friday, March 15.

“Sadly, these magnificent creatures are still being hunted in the wild. The poached horns are primarily used for traditional medicine in Asia, due to mistaken beliefs that the horns have healing powers," Rhino keeper Mark Holden said.

“Last year in South Africa alone around 500 white rhinos were killed for their horn, that’s more than one a day,” Holden continued.

Southern white rhinos are classified as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Credit: Whipsnade Zoo via Storyful

Video transcript

- Good girl. Oh, yeah just the--

[CHATTER]