Disney Parks has share a video that the Animal Kingdom keeper team put together of the parks newest rhino calf to reveal his name while showing him achieving some of his important first milestones.
Ever since his arrival announced at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park this past October, guests have been wondering about the baby boy rhino and his mom Kendi, since many of them followed Kendi’s pregnancy story on the Disney+ original series “Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” produced by National Geographic.
Take a look at the video below and be sure to pay close attention to the ending for the big reveal.
The Animal Kingdom keeper team wanted to make sure their baby boy had a name with special significance – they wanted his name to honor the wildlife rangers who protect rhinos around the world. Rhinos are the world’s second largest land animal and among the most endangered animals in the wild due to poaching.
Ranger’s name is just another way they join the Disney Conservation Fund in efforts to support rhino conservation. Did you know they have given more than 75 grants and awards to rhino protection projects? Most recently, they gave a rhino ranger, Sgt. Mutinda Ndivo with the Big Life Foundation, a Disney Conservation Hero award for his work to protect rhinos and other wildlife in more than 1.6 million acres of wilderness in East Africa.
Typically, a rhino calf can weigh up to 140 pounds at birth, and as expected, this baby was nursing, standing and walking around right by mom within the first hour of being born.
Kendi was paired with dad Dugan through one of the Species Survival Plans, which are overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to ensure the responsible breeding of endangered species. White rhinos are an endangered species with a near-threatened status.
We’ll make sure to update you when he makes his grand debut and ventures out onto the savanna at Kilimanjaro Safaris to join the crash (a rhino herd) in the coming weeks.