A BID to save a threatened breed of rhino has been boosted by the birth of a calf at a Furness zoo.

Indiana the male African White Rhinoceros was born to mother Ntombi at Safari Zoo, Dalton, on Saturday morning.

He is the fourth African White Rhinoceros calf to be born in the Safari Zoo and a third calf to be born to Ntombi, as well as the first calf to be born in the new facilities opened in May. Indiana and Ntombi are currently in their own pen. They will later be introduced to the rest of the pack, now six rhinos strong. The birth is a milestone in a rhino conservation programme supported by the zoo’s founder David Gill.

Head zookeeper Kim Banks said: “He’s quite nosy, he’s interested in everything and very well aware. He doesn’t go far away from his mum and gets away with a lot; he sits on her hay and he’s right in her face. She can’t forget that he’s around.” “Rhinos are my favourite animal”, Miss Banks said. “They are amazing. They are so big and seem aggressive but they are so wrongly shown in the media. They are big gentle giants.”

“We’ll take our time to introduce him to others. Ntombi is still quite protective of him and she gets quite loud when the others come in.”

White rhinos have been an integral part of the conservation programmes at the Safari Zoo for the past 18 years and the breeding of this critically endangered species in captivity is one vital way of securing its future, when in the wild it is highly vulnerable to poachers.

White rhinos are also known as the square-lipped rhinoceros due to their square (not pointed) upper lip. Their name comes from the Afrikaans word 'weit', which means wide and refers to the animal’s muzzle.

The Safari Zoo currently has two other female rhinos pregnant, with one due to calve within the next month or two.

As the zoo is part of the European Endangered Species Programme EEP, a breeding program between European zoos for endangered animals, Indiana will eventually move out to another zoo.

“He’ll head off to the breeding program eventually”, Miss Banks said. “The last calves were with us for three years so that’s long in the distance.”

See www.facebook.com/SafariZooUK for future announcements.