Cotswold Wildlife Park welcomes first white rhino born in UK in 2025
Cotswold Wildlife Park has welcomed the birth of Markus, the first white rhino born in the UK this year and the 12th rhino calf born at the Oxfordshire site in as many years. Keepers say that births in captivity are very rare, saying that there had only been five born in European zoological collections in 2025.
Following 16 months of pregnancy, Markus was born after less than 45 minutes. Rhinos have one of the longest gestation periods of any land animals, with only elephants, at 22 months, being longer.
Cotswold Wildlife Park Head Keeper Mark Goodwin witnessed the birth, describing Markus as “one of most confident calves I’ve seen.” “Newborns weigh approximately 70 kgs at birth and put on roughly 1.5-2 kgs a day in weight,” he added. “If he grows into his features, he will be a big lad.”
Markus is “healthy and nursing well” according to keepers and is his mum, Nancy’s seventh calf with breeding male Monty. The calf is a “high-spirited and boisterous addition” to the park and has been “delighting visitors with his energetic outbursts.”
This brings the total number of rhinos at Cotswold Wildlife Park to eight, the largest number on show at any time in its 55-year history. He has been named in honour of one of the most influential conservation scientists to have worked in Africa over the last 50 years, Dr Markus Borner.
Only 12 Black Rhinos are known to live in northern Tanzania, and possibly a few dozen more around the rest of the country. This makes them one of the rarest and most endangered species of any animal in the world, with poachers having wiped out their population, which stood at around 20,000 in 1970.
The calf’s namesake, Dr Markus Borner was given multiple awards in his life, including the Blue Planet Prize in 2016, recognising his lifetime contribution to conservation science.
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