A nine-week-old greater one-horned rhino calf and his mother charged into the Asian Plains exhibit earlier today at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The male calf, named Parvesh, seemed eager to explore his new habitat for the first time and could be seen running – and stumbling – to keep up with his mother.
Parvesh, which means “lord of celebration” in Hindi, was born on Feb. 25 to mother Alta and father Bhopu. Alta gave birth to the calf in a protected area, called a boma, not accessible to other animals. The pair has been in the boma since the calf’s birth to properly bond before being let into the 40-acre exhibit to meet other members of the rhino family.
Alta, the dominant female in the rhino herd, introduced her baby boy to the landscape and then to the other greater one-horned rhinos, including her first-born calf and Parvesh’s sister, 2½-year-old Charlees.
Once widespread in Southeast Asia, the greater one-horned rhinoceros is now found only in India and Nepal. This species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are an estimated 3,250 greater one-horned rhinos remaining in the wild. Parvesh is the 66th greater one-horned rhino born at the Safari Park since 1975, making the Safari Park the foremost breeding facility in the world for this species.
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