Baby rhino joins endangered herd

The Asian one-horned rhino is on a red list of endangered species

A baby rhino has been born at Whipsnade Zoo, boosting the Bedfordshire zoo's endangered species programme.

The male Asian one-horned rhino was born on 5 November and currently weighs 70kg (154lb) as part of the European Endangered Species Breeding programme.

The birth comes just ten months after the first rhino for 17 years, a female named Asha, was born at the zoo on New Year's Eve.

Visitors to the zoo can view the calf with his mother via a TV link.

Malcolm Fitzpatrick, zoo curator, said: "Our second Asian rhino calf in the space of a year is excellent news for Whipsnade Zoo.

"Mother and calf are doing very well.

"It's great for the herd at Whipsnade and is important for the European Endangered Species Programme."

The Asian one-horned rhino is an endangered species on World Conservation Union's (IUCN) red list of threatened species with the WWF estimating the population at 2,090 in 2002.