Cumbria's Safari Zoo welcomes new rhino calf

The new calf is believed to a boy and was born overnight on Sunday

Zookeepers were "cock-a-hoop" to arrive at work one morning and find a new rhino calf strolling around.

Zuki, a white rhino, gave birth at Safari Zoo in Lindal in Furness, Cumbria, overnight on Sunday.

The calf is believed to be a boy but further examination cannot take place until Zuki brings the calf to zoo staff, which could take several days.

White rhino figures have rebounded in the wild from about 100 in 1940 to some 18,000 now, but poachers pose a risk.

Karen Brewer, chief executive officer of the zoo, said the rhino team was "cock-a-hoop" at the news, adding: "It's just amazing and reminds us of why we are here."

The calf's father Muzungu has been at the zoo since 1996 and the new arrival is his eighth child, while for Zuki, who came from a zoo in Dublin in 2014, it is her third.

The calf is Zuki's third

Ms Brewer said staff can only watch from a distance for the first few days until Zuki brings the calf to them.

But she said he was walking around, eating and going to the toilet which were all good signs of being healthy.

Ms Brewer said 90% of wild rhinos live in South Africa but they are at risk from poachers, with their horns sought after for traditional Chinese medicines.

"The horn is made of keratin which is the same as our hair or nails so it actually does not have any magical medical properties and yet rhinos are still killed for it," she said.

A name for the new calf will be chosen by keepers in the following weeks.

The white rhino is the second-largest land mammal and is classed as "near threatened", according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.