Rare Southern White Rhino Born In Meru National Park [Photos]

Meru National Park has welcomed a Southern White Rhino calf.

Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala shared the news on his Twitter handle saying the calf was born three days ago.

Balala went ahead to share photos of the calf alongside his mother named “Makosi”.

“We have a newborn Male Southern White Rhino Calf at Meru National Park. He was born 3days ago. Pictured is the newborn Calf with his mum Makosi, ” said Balala.

This comes about a month after the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) announced the birth of another Southern White rhino in Nairobi National Park.

“We are thrilled to report the birth of a white rhino in Nairobi National Park. The lucky mother rhino had gone into hiding from hawk-eyed rangers only for her to resurface today with a three-day-old calf,” said KWS in February.

Read: Three Black Rhinos Found Dead At Maasai Mara National Reserve

The Southern White rhino belongs to a sub-species of rhinos that are considered “Near Threatened” in the conservation terminology. The Northern White Rhino species is Near Extinct since there only two known females remaining in the whole universe.

The last male Northern White Rhino named Sudan died on March 18, 2018, at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia County aged 45.

But the Southern white rhinos are quite a number.

Statistics show that about 98.5 per cent of southern white rhino are alive in just five countries namely South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda.

The Southern white rhino was nearly extinct with just less than 20 in a single South African reserve in the early 20th century.

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