Fota Wildlife Park recently announced that the male Indian rhinoceros calf, born earlier this summer, has been named Bodhi after a public naming competition.
The name Bodhi, of Sanskrit origin, which means “awakening” or “enlightenment,” was suggested by AJ Carroll from county Waterford. AJ’s entry was selected from hundreds of suggestions, winning his family an annual pass to Fota Wildlife Park.
Born on July 13th to mother, Maya and father, Jamil, Bodhi is only the second Indian rhinoceros ever born in Ireland, a significant birth which marks the Cork wildlife attraction’s ongoing commitment to global wildlife and biodiversity conservation.
The Indian rhinoceros, also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros, is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an estimated 4,000 individuals remaining in the wild.
Bodhi’s birth follows an extraordinary summer of conservation breeding successes at Fota Wildlife Park, including the arrival of a Nubian giraffe calf called Fiadh, two Asian lion cubs, a François’ langur monkey, two Sumatran tiger cubs, two European bison calves and two Kafue lechwe calves.
Visitors can learn more about the animals cared for at Fota Wildlife Park through the Park’s daily animal feeding times schedule when visiting. Fota Wildlife Park is open daily from 9.30am. Visit www.fotawildlife.ie for further details.
