A critically endangered eastern black rhino calf has just been born at Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire, marking only the second rhino birth in Welsh history. Born on 27 November, the male calf is healthy, alert, and already bonding strongly with his mother, Dakima. Keepers say he was standing and suckling within hours — a promising sign for one of the world’s rarest mammals. With fewer than 1,500 eastern black rhinos left in the wild, this birth is being celebrated as a major win for global conservation efforts. The calf will eventually join the European breeding programme, helping secure the future of a species pushed to the brink by poaching and habitat loss.

Super-cute new animal at Welsh zoo after 15-month pregnancy

The rare arrival is the second rhino calf to be born at the family-run zoo

A critically-endangered eastern black rhino calf has been born in Wales. After a 15-month long pregnancy mum Dakima gave birth to a healthy male calf on Thursday, November 27. The zoo say it is a significant achievement for the captive breeding programme.

The boy is the second rhino calf to be born at the family-run zoo. Eastern black rhinos are classed as critically endangered due to poaching and loss of habitat. There are thought to be an estimated 1,471 Eastern black rhino left in the wild and around 109 in zoos across Europe including Folly Farm’s newest addition.

The calf made its appearance at 6.34am and within a couple of hours was standing up, following mum around the enclosure, and had started suckling.

Eastern black rhinos are solitary animals and therefore usually reside in their own paddocks but Dakima and Nkosi were reintroduced again for some carefully-planned “date nights” and keepers predicted she fell pregnant sometime in August 2024.

Her stool sample was then analysed and her pregnancy confirmed. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.

Most animals give birth at night under the cover of darkness but Dakima gave birth early in the morning just before the keepers arrived to start their day.

Conservation officer Jack Gradidge said: “Our rhino keeper opened up the rhino house and the first thing he saw was the security camera footage where a tiny newborn rhino was seen happily padding about the enclosure.

“After quietly taking a sneaky peek at the beautiful new calf to confirm what he had seen he let the team know the happy news that baby had arrived.

“We then left Dakima alone with her new bundle of joy, giving them both some space to bond, but continued to monitor them on the cameras and did regular spot-checks to ensure baby was starting to feed.

“For us the next steps are just to keep an eye on Dakima and make sure the calf stays healthy and gets everything he needs from mum. Our goal is always to let nature take its course and interfere as little as possible.

“Nkosi will be a bit of an absent father but that’s perfectly normal as male rhinos don’t have anything to do with their offspring in the wild. It’s unlikely we’ll introduce him to the calf for some time.

“In the wild rhino calves can stay with their mums for up to four years,.

“After that there’s a possibility this new addition could one day be released into the wild to help boost population numbers – or move to another zoo to continue the breeding programme in Europe just like his brother.

“It’s exciting to be playing our part in helping to safeguard these amazing animals for future generations.”

Visitors shouldn’t expect to see the calf for a while but Folly Farm will be posting updates on their social media channels. But they said the new arrival was expected to be out in the enclosure in “due course”.