Lion Country Safari Welcomes Male Rhino Calf

West Palm Beach, FL – Lion Country Safari welcomed a male southern white rhinoceros

calf to its herd on March 3, 2024. The calf, named Orion, is a significant addition to the

park’s rhino herd, one of the largest in the country, and to rhinoceros conservation.

Both the calf and mom, Bloom, are spending quality time bonding together in a

maternity area, and will be visible to guests from their cars in the Hwange National Park

section of the safari.

Lion Country Safari has played a key role in southern white rhinoceros conservation for

many years and the calf is a significant contribution to the White Rhinoceros Species

Survival Plan, a national collaboration to save the imperiled species from extinction.

During the 1970s, this species was teetering on the edge of extinction with less than

1,000 individuals left on the planet. Today, thanks to multi-national collaborative

breeding and protection efforts, there are an estimated 20,000 white rhinos and each

new birth contributes to their continued conservation.

Rhino mothers give birth to a single calf weighing between 88 and 132 pounds (40-60

kg). The calf is expected to gain 3-4 pounds (1-2kg) a day from his mother's milk and will

gain about 1,000 pounds (450 kg) a year for the first three years. Baby rhinos nurse for

almost two years.

Of the five species of rhinos (White, Black, Indian, Sumatran and Javan), the white rhino

is the most numerous, but all 5 species are in peril due mostly to poaching. Lion Country

Safari is a proud participant of the White Rhinoceros Species Survival Plan (SSP), a

program of the Associations of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

For more information on rhinos, visit the International Rhino Foundation

www.rhinos.org and Save the Rhinos www.savetherhino.org.