A ZOO has welcomed an adorable new arrival in the form of a happy and healthy baby rhino – and she is already enjoying “zooming around her enclosure”.
Colchester Zoo, in Maldon Road, Stanway, is now home to a Southern White rhino calf after her mother Astrid gave birth after a lengthy gestation period of 16 months.
Due to being unaware of the exact date on which the new born would arrive devoted zookeepers had been on hourly night-watch duty, eagerly awaiting the tiny new rhino.
On the morning of January 13, awesome Astrid the white rhino - a Near Threatened species - gave birth to what is her second calf after a relatively quick labour.
Weighing 66kg, the currently unnamed new addition to the Colchester Zoo family was deem strong and health, but initially struggled in her search for vital milk.
Jo Burch, team leader, said: “The new-born explored her stall looking for a milk source but unfortunately didn’t successfully suckle from mum.
“This continued throughout the day and we were starting to get concerned that as the hours passed without her drinking, she would miss the vital colostrum from mum.
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“Therefore, that afternoon, we made the decision to express milk from Astrid and feed the calf via a bottle.
“We had regularly been checking Astrid’s teats throughout January to check for milk pre-birth, so Astrid was used to this process.
“After a bit of assistance squeezing the milk from the bottle, the calf hungrily took her first feed.”
Over the weekend after the birth the zoo team continued feeding the calf expressed milk every two hours throughout the day and monitored her throughout the night.
Finally, on the afternoon of January 15, the animal care team successfully managed to encourage the tiny rhino to drink from Astrid – something she continued regularly.
Jo added: “Her personality is starting to show through, even to the point of refusing to let the us get a new weight off her as she enjoys zooming around her enclosure.
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“We like to get to know the newborns before naming them as we like their name to have a specific meaning to the individual.
“We have some ideas but have not made a decision yet. We may ask the public to help us choose when we have a shortlist.”
Astrid arrived at Colchester Zoo, which this year celebrates it 60th anniversary, back in 2016 and her daughter is the seventh calf born at the complex.
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