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The calf is only the second Indian rhino ever born in Ireland Michael O'Sullivan
Fota island
What should we call this baby rhino?
Visitors to Fota Wildlife Park have been invited to help name the young male calf.
FOTA WILDLIFE PARK has announced the birth of a male Indian rhino, only the second such animal to be born in Ireland.
The calf was born on 13 July to mother Maya and father Jamil, following a gestation period of over 16 months.
Maya was born in Rotterdam Zoo and aged 13. She came to Fota Wildlife Park in early 2020, as part of the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme from the Botanical Garden Branfér, Nantes in France.
Jamil, also 13, was born in ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in the UK and came to Fota Wildlife Park in June 2015.
Both rhinos weigh approximately two tonnes each – the Indian rhinoceros is the largest of Asia’s three rhino species.
Senior ranger at Fota Wildlife Park, Liam McConville, noted that this is Maya and Jamil’s second calf.
“Because Indian rhino births are so rare in zoological organisations, both in Europe and around the world, it’s a one we’re incredibly proud to celebrate.”
The Indian rhinoceros, also known as the greater one-horned rhino, is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with an estimated 4,000 individuals remaining in the wild.
Native to the grasslands and floodplains of northern India and southern Nepal, it was once pushed to the brink of extinction due to hunting and the illegal poaching of its horn.
Although the species has made a recovery from the brink of extinction through intensive conservation management by the Indian and Nepalese authorities, every birth plays an important role in raising awareness of the need to protect the animals.
Meanwhile, McConville has said the young male calf is “doing exceptionally well” and that “Maya has been a fantastic mother and is incredibly protective of him”.
“We’ve been keeping a close eye on both of them, and she rarely lets him stray too far while he explores the habitat,” said McConville.
“During the recent warm weather, we even saw her gently guide him back into the shade whenever she felt it was getting too hot.
“At the moment, he’s still getting most of his nutrition from nursing, but he’s already beginning to imitate his mum by nibbling on leaves and branches as he develops.”
Visitors to Fota Wildlife Park have been invited to help name the young male calf.
Entries can be submitted at a collection point in the Serengeti Shop until 13 September, and one participant will receive an annual pass to Fota Wildlife Park.
The Park said it is “encouraging submissions that reflect the species’ native range and cultural heritage”.
Meanwhile, the announcement follows a successful period of conservation breeding at Fota Wildlife Park.
This includes the births of critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs and a Nubian giraffe, endangered Asian lion cubs and a François’ langur monkey.
The wildlife park has also seen the births of near threatened European bison calves, as well as the first white-tailed sea eagle fledgling in a decade, a bird species that was once extinct in the wild in Ireland.
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