Name this wee chap for a closer look

Photo / Christine Cornege

Do you have a name for this little guy?

Hamilton Zoo is looking for the perfect moniker for its newest member, a 7-week-old male southern white rhinoceros, born on March 12.

Staff have nicknamed the calf Bunty, for his boisterous antics.

But the zoo is appealing to the public for a proper name that will identify him as well as connecting him with the zoo's other white rhinos.

Zoo director Samantha Kudeweh said: "Typically all our rhinoceroses have been given African names to reflect the origin of the southern white rhino species.

"So while [the name] Bunty has served us well in the interim, we feel that now is the right time to find a name that is more in line with our existing rhino troupe," she said.

There are four other white rhinos at the Hamilton zoo: Bunty's parents, Kito and Kruger, and Moesha and Kifaru.

Suggestions for a new name for Bunty can be handed in at the Hamilton Zoo or submitted online at www.hamiltonzoo.co.nz.

The winner will get an Eye 2 Eye - a close-up encounter - with the zoo's rhinos, valued at $400.