New life in Planckendael
The baby rhinoceros which was born in Planckendael last month has now finally been given a name: Qabid.
At birth, the small rhinoceros already weighed 60 kilograms and is doing well, according to Planckendael. He is the first calf to be born to his mother Karamat, who has been at Planckendael since late 2012 and is involved in the international breeding programme.
The calf is initiaally being kept in the stable with his mother and he can therefore not yet be seen in the zoo. Ava, the twelve-year-old girl from Hasselt who was allowed to name the baby rhino, announced on social media that ‘Qabid’ means ‘brave, good boy’. A week earlier, she had shared a few photos of the baby rhino on her Facebook page, where you can follow the latest news about Qabid.
Qabid’s birth on 12 December was immediately seen as an important success because breeding rhinos in captivity is not simple. Just 2,800 Indian rhinos live in the wild and they are considered a vulnerable species.
Planckendael is far from unfamiliar with these kind of births – In June last year the zoo, near Mechelen, saw the birth of an elephant calf, also under the auspices of an international breeding programme.