Baby white rhino Nova makes her public debut at Belgium’s Pairi Daiza zoo

BRUGELETTE, Belgium (AP) — Baby white rhino Nova captivated visitors at Belgium’s Pairi Daiza zoo on Wednesday, making her public debut with a playful display of jumps and frolics alongside her mother, Ellie.

Born on January 2, the rare calf first had to be nurtured in the warmth of a secure area where she could gather strength and weight. Earlier this week, her mother brought her out in the open to get acquainted with the other rhinos at the famous Belgian zoo. She was also given a hesitant outing where the public got a first peek.

The mother Ellie is more used to the attention since it is already her fourth offspring.

The southern white rhinoceros are an endangered species of rhinoceros from Southern Africa.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.