BREAKING NEWS / STOP PRESS
NEW RHINO BORN AT ZIWA
Information was received in the early hours of today by the Executive Director of the Rhino Fund Uganda that overnight a fourth Southern White rhino was born and the good news went better when it was established that the little baby is actually a female, the previous three births having been males.
This is the first established female rhino birth in well over 30 years recorded in Uganda, since the species was poached into extinction by rabble army units of the then dictatorships, and conservationists will be overjoyed to learn of this latest success of Ziwa’s and RFU’s breeding programme.
The little female calf is being fiercely protected by her mother Nandi, who is in fact chasing her first born ‘Obama’ vigorously away now to give the little rhino baby all her attention, care and protection, leaving ‘Obama’ totally bewildered and reportedly ‘crying’ for his mother who was his sole companion since his own birth two years ago.
The total number of rhinos now on Ziwa is 10, with 3 adolescent males, three mature males and three mature females, the other two also being with calf and due to deliver in coming weeks.
Four of the rhinos were purchased from Kenya’ Solio Game Reserve while two were gifted to RFU and Ziwa by Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida.
The Rhino Fund Uganda and Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary have decided to ‘auction’ the name of the young baby rhino girl to the highest bidder and interested parties may apply via angie@rhinofund.org with the minimum offer starting at US Dollars 3.000
The first picture below was taken by the sanctuary’s head ranger Sergeant Godfrey Lutalo and reproduction has been granted by RFU and Ziwa, acknowledged here with many thanks.
