The municipal authorities in Montpellier have announced a rare white rhinoceros was born in the city's zoo at the weekend, a first for the wildlife park in the south of France.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the management of Lunaret Zoo on the outskirts of Montpellier said: "On Saturday 20 July, after 16 months of waiting, the park's teams were delighted to announce the birth of a baby rhinoceros.
"Nola, an 8.5-year-old female, and Troy, a 13.5-year-old male, had mated more than a year ago, and the entire team was on hand to keep a close eye on this incredible pregnancy," the statement added.
Major work had been carried out since the end of 2022 to transform the zoo's enclosure and improve the quality of life for the animals, including a dedicated area for giving birth.
Population 'decimated' by poaching
Modern rhinos have been roaming the planet for 26 million years, and it is estimated that over a million of them were still living in the wild in the middle of the 19th century.
Although rhinos have very few natural predators, their numbers have been decimated by poaching since the 1970s.
South Africa is home to almost 80 percent of the world's white rhino population, currently estimated at less than 13,000.
But the country has become a hotbed of poaching – driven by demand from Asia – where the keratin horns are used in traditional medicine for their alleged therapeutic or aphrodisiac effects.
