A Species Once Thought Down to Under 50 Now Has Calves Turning 1 in Oxfordshire

Two young southern white rhinos, Markus and Mo, have celebrated their first birthday at Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, Oxfordshire. Their cakes were made of soaked pellets, carrots and salad leaves.¹⁴

It is a small, cheerful moment with a bigger backdrop. White rhinos were close to extinction in the early 1900s, when fewer than 50 were thought to remain. They are now the most numerous of the five rhino species, though the park says conservation remains vital.⁶

Two mothers, one father

The two calves are half-siblings. They share a father, the park’s breeding male Monty, but have different mothers. Markus is Nancy’s seventh calf, and Mo is the sixth for a rhino named Ruby.⁴⁵

Markus came first. He was born in autumn 2025 after a 16-month pregnancy, and keepers filmed the birth, which took under 45 minutes.²

He was named in memory of conservation scientist Dr Markus Borner, and at the time he was the park’s 12th rhino calf in 12 years.²

Related: Sumatran Rhino Mom and Daughter Are Both Pregnant, and Mom Could Set a Record

Mo, a female, followed later in 2025 as a surprise, arriving earlier than expected.³

A rare pair of births

Between them, Markus and Mo were the only two white rhino calves born in the UK in 2025. Only six white rhinos were born in European zoological collections that year.³

Their arrival took the park’s rhino group, known as a crash, to nine animals. That is the most it has kept at one time in its 56-year history, and the park has now had 13 rhino calves in 13 years.⁵

Growing fast