Adorable — and rare — horned creature born at UK zoo. See his ‘wobbly’ first steps

Weighing in at nearly 100 pounds, a “giant bundle of joy” was born at a zoo in the United Kingdom earlier this month.

After 16 long months of pregnancy, white rhino Jaseera became a first-time mom on March 7 to a baby boy, the Whipsnade Zoo said in a March 15 news release.

“This is Jaseera’s first baby, and it’s been great to see her maternal instincts kick in. Jaseera has been nursing the calf and has been very protective of him. All the signs of a perfect rhino mum,” Rhino keeper Mark Holden said. “Southern white rhinos are born with over-sized, rubbery feet, which they ‘grow into,’ so the calf was understandably quite wobbly when he first started to walk. But he’s a fast learner and a week later he is now zooming around, exploring his cozy indoor den.”

The calf joins the rest of the “crash,” or pack or rhinos, at Whipsnade, the largest zoo in the United Kingdom.

His father, Sizzle, has been working hard to increase the species’s numbers, with 15 calves of his own and 37 grand-calves, the zoo said.

Southern white rhinos are a near threatened species from the southern half of the African continent, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, and are about 10,000 adults left in the wild as their population continues to decline.

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

The zoo hopes that the new male calf will follow in his father’s footsteps and continue to grow their species over time.

Holden said the calf is “extremely precious,” but for now, he will continue to spend time with his mother exploring his indoor habitat and getting ready to join the rest of the rhinos in a few weeks.

Whipsnade Zoo is in Bedfordshire, about 50 miles northwest of London.

This story was originally published March 18, 2024 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Adorable — and rare — horned creature born at UK zoo. See his ‘wobbly’ first steps."

Irene Wright

McClatchy DC

Irene Wright is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter. She earned a B.A. in ecology and an M.A. in health and medical journalism from the University of Georgia and is now based in Atlanta. Irene previously worked as a business reporter at The Dallas Morning News.