ARNHEM, Netherlands (Reuters) – A Dutch zoo says it has received a pre-Halloween treat in the form of a baby male square-lipped rhinoceros born on Tuesday.
Marleen Giesen of the Royal Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem said mother and baby were healthy and the calf has been named “Stark” in honour of one of her human colleagues who is retiring.
The birth was live streamed https://www.youtube.com/embed/Il9lcrrDpKY from a camera inside the animals’ warmed enclosure for fans who were willing to stay up for the 3 a.m. event.
“I think it’s a treat of course,” Giesen said. “I don’t know whether there are a lot of kids running around in rhino (costumes) but maybe now there will be.”
The Burgers’ Zoo has been one of the most successful in Europe at breeding rhinos, an endangered species, producing 14 in all since 1977.
Giesen said the zoo doesn’t have a secret recipe.
“We have two animals at the moment that are fertile and can give birth,” Giesen said, and she noted that Stark’s mother, Kwanzaa, has given birth to seven calves.
“It’s a little bit of luck maybe.”
(Reporting by Piroschka van de Wouw; Writing by Toby Sterling; Editing by Nick Macfie)
