What do you do for a Queen who has everything?
Name a rhino after her, of course.
Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens in Oxfordshire has marked Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign by naming its new white rhinoceros calf “Queenie” after Her Majesty.
“All the Rhinos here are named after very special people and I think everyone agrees that 2022 will always be special because of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee,” Reggie Heyworth, the park’s managing director said in a statement. “I thought it might be a bit presumptuous to call our new baby ‘Elizabeth’, so I have christened her ‘Queenie’ instead. I think it is a perfect name for a young lady Rhino!”
Cotswold Wildlife Park names new #Rhino calf in honour of Her Majesty The Queen. This year marks Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year. To celebrate this special anniversary, an apt name was chosen for the new calf. Read more about Queenie here: https://t.co/8LWyst9Ltj pic.twitter.com/dYZTxwYor1
— CotswoldWildlifePark (@CotsWildTweets) March 12, 2022
Queenie is the ninth white rhino calf to be born at the Burford collection, and she is the fifth calf to be born to mother Nancy, and father, Monty, at the zoo.
“We feel very lucky to have another baby female Rhino, which is our fifth female baby in a row,” Heyworth added.
The Queen’s Grandson, Prince William, happens to be a Royal Patron of UK-based conservation charity Tusk Trust, which the Cotswold Wildlife Park works with to protect Africa’s many threatened species, including rhinos.
By the early 1900s, the white rhino was nearly extinct.
There were perhaps only 20 to 50 animals remaining in their native African homeland. Conservation efforts and breeding programs are helping to preserve the species and they have now bounced back to be the most common of all five rhino species.
Welcome to the world, little Queenie. May your reign be long.
