Shropshire Star

Rare black rhino born at zoo on dad’s birthday

Mother Naima gave birth at Rotterdam Zoo on Sunday.

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A baby rhino and his mother at Rotterdam Zoo

A rare black rhino has been born at a zoo in the Netherlands.

Mother Naima gave birth to a male calf at Rotterdam Zoo on Sunday evening after a 450-day pregnancy in an event that was streamed live by webcam to viewers all over the world.

A statement on the zoo’s website on Monday read: “The delivery went well.

“The calf, a male, stood within twenty minutes and has already drunk.”

The newborn arrived on his father’s birthday – Vungu was born on November 8 2001 at Port Lympne Safari Park in Kent.

It is only the third black rhino born at a zoo in the Netherlands, with two of those calves being born to Naima.

She also gave birth in 2017.

Black rhinos, native to southern and eastern Africa, are critically endangered.

Hunting saw their numbers dwindle by 98% in the second half of the last century to 2,500, but conservation efforts have seen that figure rise to around 5,600.

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