Whipsnade Zoo named its new white rhino calf Mazinda

A male southern white rhino calf named Mazinda was born at Whipsnade Zoo on November 1. Luton Today reported the news on November 10, 2026. Keepers estimated his weight at about 40 kilograms. His mother is Fahari and his father is Sizzle. Hoofstock team leader Mark Holden said Fahari has stayed with the calf and that the youngster is growing more confident in the rhino barn.

Mazinda is the 61st calf in a breeding program that began when a herd arrived from South Africa in 1970. The original Mazinda, born at the zoo on June 24, 1971, was the first white rhino calf born in Europe. Holden said the new calf was named for that history, in a year when the Zoological Society of London, which runs the zoo, is marking 200 years. Southern white rhinos were reduced to about 20 animals in South Africa by the late 19th century. Estimates now put the wild population at about 17,500, and poaching and habitat loss have not gone away. The news is this one calf in a managed herd. It is not a count of rhinos returned to the wild.