Fresno Chaffee Zoo has a new southern white rhino, and she is already trying to spar with her mother.
Eloise was born on Friday, November 28, 2025 to Kayla, an experienced mother at the Fresno zoo. The two spent their first weeks resting and bonding behind the scenes under watch from the animal care and veterinary teams, and Eloise made her public debut in African Adventure on December 15.
Bold on the savanna, curious behind the scenes
She stayed close to her mother on that first outing, though not so close that it stopped her from stomping at the grass and watching the other animals around her.
Her personality has come out in two settings. Behind the scenes she is inquisitive about the zoological care specialists who work with her, and has gained enough confidence to walk up to them. On the savanna she is bolder. She has taken runs at sparring with Kayla and copies her mother’s eating behavior, though she is still too young to manage hay.
Like most young animals she alternates between hard running and lying down next to her mother for a nap.
Kayla’s fifth
Eloise is the fifth rhino calf born to Kayla and male southern white rhino Tim at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. The zoo says each one has arrived with a different personality and a different way of working out the other animals on the savanna.
