Meet Salam, baby white rhino and symbol of peace, at Dubai Safari Park

Dubai: Born amid conflict, Dubai Safari Park’s baby rhino Salam quickly became an unlikely symbol of hope for many residents across the UAE.

Named after the Arabic word for peace, the endangered southern white rhino calf arrived at a time in April beginning when conflict dominated headlines across the region.

But more than a month later, Salam appears blissfully unaware of the emotional weight attached to his birth.

At the time of his arrival the park described Salam as “a reminder of positivity to all of us to stay strong in our continuous efforts, for conservation and in our day-to-day lives.”

“Yeah, actually, even the name of Salam reflects the peace. He's quickly become one of our most beloved residents,” says Dr. Murad B. M. Mustafa, the head of the Veterinary Hospital at Dubai Safari Park, who oversaw his birth.

When Gulf News was given exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Dubai Safari Park last week before it closed for summer on May 31, the fast-growing baby rhino was busy doing something far more important: aggressively hurling himself into the mud beside his mother Olive.

The performance begins almost instantly.

Within seconds, the now 182.5-kilogram calf is coated in wet earth, rolling sideways into the puddle, burying his snout into it and kicking his legs slightly as though this is the greatest discovery of his young life.

Mama Olive, a star in her own right among Dubai Safari Park visitors and insiders, barely reacts. She stands nearby beneath the sharp Dubai sun, calm and watchful, occasionally glancing toward her increasingly muddy son before letting him continue uninterrupted.

“He's doing what the rhinos do,” says curator Miguel Santos, laughing as Salam climbs out of the puddle only to immediately head back toward it again.

“He's a very healthy baby, very playful. He's now enjoying his mud bath, which, again, it's very important at this time of the year to protect him from the sun," explained Miguel.

And despite already weighing more than 182 kilograms, Salam still behaves exactly like a toddler.

Every few minutes during our visit, he wanders away from Olive only to abruptly circle back again, pressing himself briefly against her side before darting off in another direction with renewed curiosity. At one point, he disappears almost entirely beneath Olive’s enormous frame before suddenly reappearing and charging back toward the mud pit with visible excitement.

Baby Rhino Salam will be debuting at the Dubai Safari Park sometime next year for visitors.

Watching the pair together, it becomes obvious why Park insiders have become so attached to him.

There is something deeply comforting about the sight of a healthy rhino calf behaving exactly as nature intended: curious, muddy and completely secure beside his mother.

“He's been doing very well with his mom, she's taking good care of him,” says Miguel.

“Everything is on track for Salaam to develop into a fully grown, healthy rhino.”

Salaam’s birth is also an important milestone for Dubai Safari Park’s wider conservation efforts. The endangered southern white rhino calf is the second rhino born through the park’s breeding programme following the arrival of Onyx in 2024, underscoring the growing role modern wildlife parks play in protecting vulnerable species.

Classified as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), southern white rhinos continue to face pressure from habitat loss and poaching, with an estimated 15,700 remaining in the wild.

When Salaam was born earlier this year in April, he weighed approximately 73.5 kilograms. Today, according to the veterinary team overseeing his care, he has more than doubled in size.

"Even at 182 kgs, he’s still baby,” tells Dr Murad, laughing softly as Salaam races past Olive again.

"He's one of our most beloved residents! He's a reminder of positivity to all of us to stay strong in our conservation and in our day-to-day lives," said Dr Murad.

Dr Murad explained the enormous amount of planning and monitoring involved in Olive’s pregnancy.

Rhino pregnancies can last more than a year and require continuous veterinary supervision.

“It is one year plus gestation period. The full pregnancy period that the mother was in, was monitored from A to Z,” explains Dr Murad.

Rather than repeatedly drawing blood, the team used progesterone monitoring through fecal sample analysis.

“Trying the blood is a bit stressful to the animal, where we don't want to squeeze the animal and collect the blood every time,” he explains.

“So we decided to monitor the progesterone level in the faecal without harming the animal.”

Today, all that monitoring and preparation has resulted in a thriving calf whose daily priorities appear refreshingly straightforward: mud baths, food and staying close to mama Olive.

The veterinary team says Salaam currently consumes around six kilograms of solid food a day as he steadily continues to grow. Eventually, he will be introduced to the wider rhino group at Dubai Safari Park and then make his public debut for visitors sometime next year.

“Right now he's only with his mom, but in the future, he'll be introduced to the rest of the group here,” says Miguel.

“That will be college for him as he learns how to play with other rhinos.”

But on this particular morning, Salaam seems far more interested in mud than social structure.

Every single time he appears ready to settle quietly beside Olive, he suddenly spots another muddy patch nearby and charges toward it with the same level of enthusiasm all over again.

The caretakers watching nearby laugh knowingly.

“We feel that he's a family member, because these animals, we are living with them all the time,” says Dr Murad.

“Even today, you see how much he was excited looking at the people around. He's like a kid, so playful and fun," says Dr Murad.

And perhaps that is what makes Salam resonate so deeply with people.

Not simply because he represents a conservation success story, or because his birth arrived during a difficult moment for the region, but because watching him now, muddy, playful and gloriously carefree beside Olive, feels like a rare glimpse of uncomplicated joy.