An Indian rhinoceros has been born at Plankendael Zoo in Muizen near Mechelen in Antwerp Province. Following a 16-month pregnancy, mother Karamat gave birth to the calf early on Friday morning. According to the zoo, both the mother rhino and her new-born calf are in excellent health. The calf weighs about 60 kg. The baby rhino seems to have something of a thirst as the photos and video in this article show.
The sex of the young rhino cannot yet be determined. The only thing that is certain is that its name will begin with an A, because Plankendael Zoo is giving all animals born there in 2025 a name beginning with the letter A.
Visitors can help choose a name for the baby rhino on Planckendael’s Instagram page.
The newborn calf is the 15-year-old mother rhinoceros, whose name is Karamat, third. She gave birth to Qabit in 2015 and Vaiana in 2020. Both Qabit and Vaiana are part of a European breeding programme that is designed to ensure the survival of this species Indian rhinoceros.
Karamat has been living with the male Gujurat in Plankendael since 2016. Indian rhinos are now only found in the wild in Kaziranga National Park, located on the border between India and Nepal.