By SALINA POST
You can get your first in-person look at the first southern white rhino born at the Rolling Hills Zoo as early as Thursday!
This afternoon, the zoo announced that it will start allowing guests to see the male rhino calf on a trial basis beginning Thursday.
"This is a trial schedule as we continue to monitor mother, Evey, and her calf to guests in the barn. They have been doing great since the first of the year with new faces," said Brenda Gunder, Rolling Hills Zoo curator. "Our first priority is to the mother and calf, so if we should start to see signs of distress during visitation hours, the barn will be closed."
The rhino barn visitation schedule, as provided by Rolling Hills Zoo, is as follows.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The barn will remain closed to the public on Wednesdays.
Guests will be required to bring their own facemasks to enter the rhino barn. Strollers will not be allowed in the barn.
The calf was born on Dec. 9 and will be seven weeks old on Thursday.
"As a bouncing baby boy, this calf is very curious as he explores his indoor habitat and runs zoomies from one side to the other. He enjoys brush scratches from his keepers, is developing his 'wallowing' skills, and has been seeing munching on mama’s hay. As any toddler will, he has also been seen nudging Evey to play, mouthing her face, eyes and ears, and bumping her with his developing horn. He will even put his two front feet on her as she is laying down to indicate that he’s ready to nurse," the zoo noted in a news release.