Two Rhino babies born at top Cotswold animal park
Cotswold Wildlife Park celebrates 'Rhino Month' with a milestone: the birth of two White Rhinos in just one week.
It's been a remarkable time at Cotswold Wildlife Park and a milestone for both the European Breeding Programme and for Rhino conservation. Two weeks ago, White Rhino Ruby gave birth to the tenth Rhino born at the Park in the last decade - a huge achievement. It's rare to catch Rhino births on camera as females usually give birth during the night but luckily keepers were at the Park when the calf was born. They managed to film some incredible footage of the birth (at around 5pm on Saturday 12 August 2023) and the first moments in the new arrival's life.
Less than one week later, in the early hours of Saturday 19 August 2023, White Rhino Nancy gave birth to a second calf.
It's the first time in the Park's history that two Rhinos have given birth in the space of just one week - a momentous chapter in the Park's history as Managing Director of Cotswold Wildlife Park, Reggie Heyworth, explains.
"It is so exciting to welcome a White Rhino calf into the world. So it is even more amazing that in the space of one week, both our wonderful female Rhinos, Nancy and Ruby, have now had calves! Ruby had a male calf on 12th August and, not wanting to be left out of the excitement, Nancy popped out a female calf on 19th August! That makes it 11 calves born here at the Wildlife Park in 11 years. What joy they have brought to us all, they are just the most charismatic and lovely animals and visitors and staff alike are absolutely entranced by them. My father, the founder of the Wildlife Park, died in 2012 just before our first calf was born but I'm sure that he would be absolutely over the moon if he knew. Rhinos are a real Heyworth favourite!’’
Cotswold Wildlife Park, located near Burford is open daily from 10am.
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