It’s been a joyous week or so at Chester Zoo as the award-winning conservationists have welcomed a brand new eastern black rhino, “one of the world’s rarest mammals”, and even managed to catch the birth on camera.
Chester Zoo confirmed that one of their adult rhinos, Zuri, gave birth to a baby eastern black earlier this month and, in an even rarer turn of events, the zookeepers managed to catch the birth on camera in the middle of the day.
Noting that a daylight birth is “quite unusual”, the rhino team labelled the once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon “just the most incredible privilege”.
Yet to be named, the female calf is now just one of a handful of species left on the planet, with fewer than 600 eatsern black rhinos said to be living in the wild across Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. However, the baby’s birth will massively help efforts to prevent an endangered species from disappearing.
Credit: Chester Zoo
Having trooped on through her 15-month pregnancy, mum Zuri delivered her baby on a soft bed of sand around 2:45pm on Sunday, 12 November, as the zoo’s rangers watched on in amazement.
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Rhino Team Manager, Emma Evison — who has been closely monitoring the two since the birth — said, “What’s most important now during these first few days is that mum Zuri and her new baby spend some time bonding and getting to know one another.
“So far, the pair have been inseparable and the little one is feeding regularly and already gaining in size and weight. She’s very inquisitive and full of energy, which is just brilliant to see.
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You can see the quite incredible moment the baby eastern black rhino entered the world here (we’ll pre-warn that it’s not for the squeamish, mind you…):
Nature is absolutely amazing.
As Evison went on to explain, “Sadly this is a species that, for more than century, has been hunted down and poached for its horn before being sold on the illegal wildlife markets.
“This precious newborn’s arrival is another positive step in safeguarding the species, which is what the endangered species breeding programme in European conservation zoos that we’re a leading part of is striving to do. This programme has already showed huge success, with a group of rhinos bred in zoo’s in Europe having been translocated to a protected National Park in Africa.”
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The illegal wildlife trade is the world’s fourth biggest international crime and, unfortunately, is the main driver in thousands of species disappearing from the wild, including the eastern black rhino.
The demand for rhino horn, stemming from the traditional Asian medicine market, has seen 95% Africa’s rhinos wiped out by poaching. However, the latest figures show that, for the first time in more than a decade, rhino numbers have increased slightly across Africa due to successful conservation efforts.
Mum and daughter, taking their first steps side by side.
The birth of this healthy calf can truly do wonders for the fate of this beautiful species and we couldn’t be more chuffed to see the Cheshire institution add another cutey to its collection whilst continuing to do their bit for wildlife conservation.
Mike Jordan, Director of Animals and Plants at the zoo, said: “Our efforts to protect this magnificent species extend far beyond the zoo’s boundaries and, while it’s incredibly positive news that conservation efforts across Africa have led to a small recovery in rhino numbers, giving them some much needed breathing space, we know there’s still lots of work to be to done…
“Zuri and her new arrival is testament to the unwavering dedication of conservationists here at Chester, and around the world, who are working to safeguard these incredible animals and ensure that they thrive long into the future.”
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Chester Zoo is a truly wonderful place that’s magic never seems to wane on us no matter how many years go by. They’ve also got a very special festive but still animal-themed event on this Christmas that you don’t want to miss either.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Danny Jones -
22nd November 2023 
