Rhino something you don’t know!

It helps to be a little thick-skinned in Cork with all the sun we’re getting, and luckily Fota Wildlife Park’s newest arrival is just that

On Tuesday, the park officially announced the birth of a male Indian rhino calf, only the second of his kind to ever be born in Ireland and the second in the park's history.

Born on 13 July to mother, Maya, and father, Jamil, the calf is said to be doing “exceptionally well” so far.

“Maya has been a fantastic mother and is incredibly protective of him,” said Liam McConville, senior ranger at Fota Wildlife Park.

“During the recent warm weather, we even saw her gently guide him back into the shade whenever she felt it was getting too hot,” he added.

The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also known as the greater one-horned rhino, is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an estimated 4,000 individuals remaining in the wild.

Mr McConville continued: “This is Maya and Jamil’s second calf, and 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.”

At the moment, the calf is still getting most of his nutrition from his mother, but staff say he’s already beginning to imitate his mum by nibbling on leaves and branches.

Native to the grasslands and floodplains of northern India and southern Nepal, the species has made a recovery from the brink of extinction through intensive conservation management by the Indian and Nepalese authorities, although habitat loss and poaching for the illegal rhino horn trade continue to threaten its future.

The Indian rhinoceros is the largest of Asia's three rhino species. There are five surviving rhinoceros species remaining, with two species native to Africa and three to Asia.

Tuesday’s announcement follows a remarkable period of conservation breeding successes at Fota Wildlife Park including the births of critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs, a Nubian giraffe, endangered Asian lion cubs, a François' langur monkey, and 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.

Visitors to Fota Wildlife Park are now being invited to help name the young male calf. Entries can be submitted at a collection point in the Serengeti Shop until the 13 September, and one lucky winner will receive an annual pass to the park.