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Part Time Rangers Names Baby Rhino

After fierce competition, a baby rhino has been named Ashley Bloomfield in Botswana thanks to New Zealand alcohol company Part Time Rangers

A baby rhino has been named after the New Zealand Director General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, after Kiwi alcohol company Part Time Rangers adopted the baby rhino and donated almost $40,000 to support the calf in her first crucial years of life.

Baby Ashley Bloomfield was given the name after Part Time Rangers, in partnership with Rhinos Without Borders, tasked Kiwis to come up with a name for the little female rhino. After hundreds of submissions, which included Jacinda Ard-horn and Rhino McRhinoface, the name Ashley Bloomfield came out ahead on the poll run on Part Time Rangers' Instagram page.

“We can’t wait to see our little Ashley grow!” says Part Time Rangers co-founder Oliver Deane.

Part Time Rangers, who donate 10 per cent of its profits to animal conservation initiatives, announced earlier this month they needed a name for the newborn after they donated $38,900 to Rhinos Without Borders.

The money will be used to support the newborn for the first three years of its life.

After asking the public for a name suggestion and holding a poll where thousands voted, the company introduced the baby rhino as Ashley Bloomfield - much to the delight of the baby rhino's namesake, Ashley Bloomfield (the person). "Well that came out of the blue, what a privilege," he said in an email. "Thanks for the honour and I do hope AB junior thrives under the protection your donation has afforded her.

"As my boss the State Services Commissioner said in a text to me, 'this is as good as it gets' and this should nicely round out my CV."

Faced with a devastating rise in illegal rhino poaching in South Africa, Rhinos Without Borders has relocated 87 rhinos out of densely populated areas that attract poachers. Translocating these rhinos to Botswana has allowed for breeding away from danger, and the arrival of baby calves show this important movement is working, offering hope for the future of wild rhinos.