Staff at an English wildlife park recorded the birth of a rare white rhino on video.
According to Voice of Alexandria, Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens welcomed Markus, a male white rhino calf. He is the sole white rhino calf born in Britain this year.
Keeper Liam Klingsick watched as mother Nancy delivered her baby in three-quarters of an hour, an uncommon occurrence since female rhinos usually give birth after dark when no one is there.
Eight rhinos now live at the facility, more than the park has housed in its five-decade existence.Â
Markus joins 11 other calves born at the park over 12 years, making it one of Britain’s biggest rhino families on display.
White rhino births in zoos happen rarely. Five white rhino calves arrived at European zoos in 2025, making Markus’s arrival important for breeding programs.
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The calf was named to honor Dr. Markus Borner, who spent his life safeguarding rhinos in Africa. The park’s chairman, Reggie Heyworth, joined Borner’s conservation team in Tanzania during the 1990s, when black rhino populations had fallen to 50 individuals nationwide. Twenty years earlier, 20,000 had lived there.Â
Poaching eliminated the majority in the 1980s. By Borner’s death in 2020, the Serengeti’s black rhino population had grown.
Head keeper Mark Godwin has overseen the park’s rhinos for 12 years, and he described the birth of Markus as “a memorable day for keepers and visitors alike” when discussing the video footage.
Baby Markus weighed 70 kilograms at birth and is expected to gain 1.5 to 2 kilograms daily. He got up in 60 minutes and nursed from Nancy.
Over the last 10 years, the park raised more than £120,000 for rhino conservation in Africa, demonstrating the importance of donating money to planet-protecting causes. Per Voice of Alexandria, a park spokesperson said, “The White Rhino is living proof of conservation success.”Â
White rhinos almost disappeared in the early 1900s, leaving fewer than 50 alive. Protection efforts brought their population back, giving white rhinos higher numbers than any other rhino species today.
However, illegal hunting is still a problem as poachers obtain rhino horn to supply traditional medicine markets.
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