Melbourne zoo welcomes rare southern white rhino calf to the world

A very large bundle of joy was quietly delivered to a Melbourne zoo last Sunday as a southern white rhino gave birth to a male calf.

Mother Kipenzi, 11, and father Kifaru, 15, welcomed their 60kg baby into the world in the early hours of 18 August, Werribee open range zoo announced.

Dr Mark Pilgrim, the director of Werribee open range zoo, said the new mother had been taking to her role very well.

“It’s just incredible to see her mothering instincts coming out,” said Pilgrim. “It’s beautiful to see that with her.”

The newborn is Kipenzi’s second – she gave birth to her first calf in March last year, but struggled to bond with it. That calf died within days, suffering internal trauma and cardiac arrest after Kipenzi, who weighs two tonnes, leaned against it soon after its birth.

Kipenzi and the new calf have been closely monitored this week, with mother and baby being kept in a secluded area accessible only to keepers while they get to know each other and bond.

They will remain there for some weeks before the calf is introduced to the other rhinos and then later to the public.

Pilgrim said the zoo’s staff were delighted with the not-so-little family’s progress so far, especially with Kipenzi.

“She’s being an amazing mum, really protective of [the calf] right now,” he said. “She’s doing her best to shepherd it and keep it close to her, and making sure that it’s not wandering off too far. So she’s just doing the perfect thing we expect a mother rhino to do.”

The calf has already been showing a forthright personality, snorting and stomping around his enclosure, Pilgrim said. “He’s going to be a real handful later on.”

Kipenzi herself was born at Werribee zoo in 2013 to resident rhino Sisi, but was hand-reared by keepers due to Sisi’s refusal to let her out of her sight – which meant she was unable to get underneath her to suckle.

Kipenzi was given her name – which means “precious one” in Swahili – by a Wyndham Vale resident. Her new calf will also be named by the public in a voting competition in coming weeks.

Southern white rhinos are native to southern Africa. A near-threatened species, they are bred at Werribee open range zoo in Melbourne as part of the Australasian Southern white rhino breeding program.

It is estimated as few as 10,080 southern white rhinos remain in the wild.