Knowsley Safari want your help naming their new baby rhino

Knowsley Safari welcomed a baby southern white rhino last week, and now they need a name for the new addition.

There’s an adorable new addition to the animal family at Merseyside’s Knowsley Safari – and the team at the top tourist attraction is asking for the public’s help to give her a name.  

Animal lovers are being asked to choose a suitable moniker for the rare baby southern white rhinoceros who was born last month. 

This adorable youngster was born on 23^rd October, to mum Meru, following a gestation period of 18 months – one of the longest in the animal world. She gave birth to the last baby rhino to be born at Knowsley Safari back in 2018 and will nurse her new calf for around a year. 

This latest addition to Knowsley Safari’s rhino crash is the 22^nd be born there and is yet another success of the extensive European Association of Zoos and Aquaria’s (EAZA) Ex-situ breeding programme. 

All four shortlisted contenders are of African origin and include: Mashama (meaning Surprise); Imani (meaning Faith); Amara (meaning Grace and Kindness) and Dela (meaning Make Complete). 

To vote for your favourite name, visit Knowsley Safari’s Facebook and Twitter pages and comment on the posts. 

Chris Smart, Knowsley Safari’s Animal Operations Manager, said:

“We’re thrilled to welcome a new baby rhino to the world, especially so as we had thought that that the pregnancy may not have progressed. She came as a very welcome surprise to us all. 

“The response to her birth has been wonderful – there’s been so much interest and support – so we’re now asking for the public’s help in naming her. We’ve got a shortlist of four, so please let us know your favourite.” 

Southern white rhinos remain under threat from poaching for their horns. There are just under 16,000 left in the wild today making them “near threatened” on the IUCN red list of endangered animals.  

Accompanying video and images can be downloaded here https://we.tl/t-kHmlmkAEvZ