THE newest arrival has been unveiled at Dalton zoo - a newborn white rhino calf called Indiana.

Although staff at South Lakes Safari Zoo had been eagerly awaiting mum Ntombi to go into labour, head zookeeper Kim Banks revealed she gave birth to 'little' Indiana quite by surprise on Saturday morning.

"We'd put her in the separate enclosure, expecting her to go into labour but it happened so quickly, we came in on Saturday morning and we saw a flood of liquid and there they both were," the experienced zookeeper said.

Indiana, who is Ntombi's third calf, will spend a number of weeks indoors with his mum before being allowed out into the open enclosure to full public view. For the time being, he is quite happy exploring the safety of the inside pen, with occasional special guests allowed a quick glimpse of the zoo's newest arrival.

Zoo owner David Gill confirmed Indiana's birth on the park's Facebook page, revealing that two other female rhinos were also pregnant.

Revealing rhinos are his favourite animal, an opinion shared by head zookeeper Kim Banks, Mr Gill said: "White Rhinos have been an integral part of the Conservation programmes at the zoo for 18 years now and the breeding of this critically endangered species in captivity is one vital way of securing its future when in the wild its numbers are so massively vulnerable to poachers.

"We have two other female rhinos pregnant at this time and another is due to calve within the next month or two. This is the result of long term specialist management of our herd, a strong commitment to this programme and excellent facilities for this species.

"The secret to our success lies in the fact we keep two adult bulls constantly with the female cows thus placing a positive stimulus for the males and the females alike."

Indiana will spend some time with his mother but once he reaches a certain age is likely to be transferred to another zoo where he can hopefully breed with other white rhinos.