A wildlife park’s new baby rhino is making friends with the girl she was named after – the keeper’s young daughter.
Molly the white rhinoceros is now mates with four-year-old Molly Goodwin – daughter of headkeeper Mark Goodwin.
She is the newest addition to the rhino family at Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens.
Births in captivity are considered rare, with only nineteen white rhinos being born in European zoos in the last twelve months.
Her birth is testament to the dedication of the mammal keepers and the Park’s commitment to the European Breeding Programme (EEP).
Previous calves have been named after the founder of Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens John Heyworth, and highly respected South African conservationist, Ian Player.
This time the honour was given to Head Keeper Mark Godwin who has worked at the park for 31 years.
This is the first rhino calf he has named and decided to call her Molly after his four-year-old daughter.
Molly described having a rhino named after her as “amazing!”.
Mark’s family live on-site at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Molly, along with her five-year-old brother Henry, has grown up at the wildlife park and the siblings regularly visit their favourites – the rhinos.
During lockdown when the park was temporarily closed to the public, they even lent their dad a helping hand by mucking out the rhinos and camels.
