Cotswold Wildlife Park welcomes two baby white rhinos

Two white rhinos calves have been born a week apart at an Oxfordshire wildlife park.

The new arrivals at Cotswold Wildlife Park came just in time for the zoo's Rhino Month, an annual event to raise conservation awareness.

Ruby gave birth to a male calf on 12 August and Nancy birthed a female calf exactly a week later on 19 August.

Head Keeper Mark Godwin said: "The boy has been named Henry but the female is yet to be named."

The wildlife park has now seen 11 rhino calves born in 11 years.

White rhinos were once on the verge of extinction in the early 1900s, when it was believed only 20 to 50 animals remained in Africa.

Thanks to conservation efforts, they are now the most common of the five rhino species.

Both calves weighed in at around 60 to 70kg, and will put on a 1.5 to 2kg a day during their first years.

Mr Godwin said: "It's going to be quite an exciting time trying to sort out the two young calves out in the middle of the paddock when they are running around.

"Mum likes to keep in contact with the baby and know where it is. The young male calf is already a bit of a nightmare for her trying to run around the pen and avoid her."

"For me the perfect time is to walk in in the morning and find a new baby," Mr Godwin added.

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