Jai ho!

A 10 week old rhino born in Cork has been officially named after a public competition to suggest a name.

Meet Jai, the Indian rhino calf born on 19 September 2022 in Fota Wildlife Park after a gestation period of 16 months to mother Maya and father Jamil.

Jai, which means victory or triumph, is the only Indian rhino birth in Ireland and is 1 of only 6 Indian rhino births in any zoological institution in the world this year. The Indian rhino is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature with 3,300 living in the wild. The illegal trade of poaching rhino horn for traditional medicine poses the biggest threat to the species.

10 year old Maya came to Fota Wildlife Park from the French zoo, the Botanical Garden Branfér, Nantes in early 2020, as recommended by the ex-situ European Endangered Breeding Programme (EEP) for Indian rhino to breed with the male Indian rhino, Jamil, at Fota Wildlife Park. Jamil, who is nine years old, was born in ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in the UK and came to Fota in June 2015. Both rhinos weigh approximately 2 tonnes each. Jai, who weighed 60 kilos at birth now weighs over 165 kilos.

Lead Ranger, Aidan Rafferty said “We are absolutely delighted to see how Jai is thriving. Currently he’s feeding from his mother Maya but he’s also starting to pick at some grass and hay. A healthy rhino calf will put on about one to two kilos a day in weight at this stage of their lives. He’s a very lively and inquisitive calf. Visitors can usually get on opportunity to see him in the afternoons when he’s outside in his paddock with his mother, generally running about and playing!”

“There has been a great reaction from the public and visitors to news of his birth, and we received nearly one thousand name suggestions over the last few weeks. After much consideration we settled on Jai. The name really suits him, and he really is a triumph and victory for breeding success here at Fota, for the species conservation work we do and raising awareness about the loss of biodiversity worldwide.”

The name Jai was suggested by Cliodhna Kellegher from Leitrim, who won a year-long Conservation Pass to Fota Wildlife Park.