Ree Park safari park in Djursland, Jutland, enjoyed a memorable start to the new year after it became home to the first black rhino calf to be born in Scandinavia.
The special new addition arrived at 01:30 on 2 January and was the toast of all the park employees, who had been working for four years to try and get the father, Thabo, to mate with the mother, Bashira. The successful delivery also came on the back of Bashira’s 15-month pregnancy.
Ree Park manager Jesper Stagegaard described the birth as “fantastic”, noting that it was the perfect start to the year. He explained that rhinos were extremely fussy about choosing a mate, so they were delighted to finally get Bashira and Thabo together after years of trying.
Black rhinos are now severely endangered and among the species that are closest to extinction, so the birth of a calf is seen as a major success. The safari park in Jutland put its breeding programme in place shortly after the parents were paired together, but staff had found it tough to get them to harmonise.
The calf, meanwhile, has yet to be named because staff are still unsure of its gender. It is currently just 60cm tall, 80cm long and weighs 25kgs. If it remains healthy, it may be released into the wild in Kenya, where the safari park has a partnership with an organisation that concentrates its efforts on saving the species.