Cute alert: Baby rhino born at Planckendael animal park

Animal park Planckendael in Mechelen has announced the birth of a baby rhinoceros. He was born last month to mother Karamat and father Gujarat. The latter is now living in the Blijdorp park in Rotterdam.

The baby (pictured), weighing 60 kilograms at birth, has not yet been named and is not yet on view to the public. The park will keep him indoors with Karamat until the temperature outside reaches 15 degrees.

An exception was made, however, for 12-year-old Ava from Hasselt, who was chosen as the baby’s godmother after she sent a letter to the park two years ago confessing her love for rhinoceroses. She was allowed a special peek at the newborn this week.

Like all rhino babies, he was born without a horn – presumably to the relief of his mother – which will grow in later. A rhinoceros pregnancy lasts 16 months.

Karamat was born in 2010 in Whipsnade Zoo in England and came to Planckendael in 2012, where she can now take part in the international breeding programme. There are less than 3,000 Indian rhinos remaining in the wild, 70% of them in the Kaziranga National Park in the Indian state of Assam.

Photo courtesy Planckendael