Fossil Rim (Texas, USA) announces that its Southern White Rhino calf, born on 4 December 2016, made his public debut on 1 June 2017!
The little bull is Ursula’s first son. Unfortunately, the young mother did not accept the calf and he was hand reared by his Keepers. A female goat was introduced to the calf for the first two months of life. Even if the things between them went smoothly, they acted more as acquaintances than friends. So the Keepers played another card that it turned out to be a perfect moove! They introduced the young male to a female rhino, called M’Bili. M’Bili was choosen not only because she had calves before, but also because she is described as an easygoing lady with relaxed manners. M’Bili and the calf got along so well that they are still together nowadays!

On 4 June 2017, when the calf turned six months, the Facility announced his name: it is Jiwe, a Swahili word for “stone”. It was suggested by one of the Facility Keepers, that has been part of Jiwe’s care team from early in his life. She explained that she came up with the name because when she was feeding him with a bottle of milk in his very early days of life, Jiwe’s movement reminded her a rolling rock that was going down a hill!

You can follow Jiwe and M’Bili life here