Inkosi the black rhino, left, with his first birthday cake

A bakery got an unusual request when it was asked to make a first birthday cake for a rhino.

Filmers Bakery, in Aldington, near Ashford, came up with a carrot-shaped creation for Inkosi - the youngest black rhino at Port Lympne.

Paul Beer, head of rhinos at the wild animal park, said: “Inkosi is a favourite with the keepers and visitors here at the park, everyone finds him irresistible.

"Now that he is getting older the typical black rhino traits are starting to come through and he has started testing how far and fast he can charge.”

Black rhinos are critically endangered in the wild because, as the price of rhino horn soars, so does the increase in poaching.

Poaching over the last three generations has cut the number of rhinos by about 90% and it is estimated that only 3,500 black rhino remain in their natural habitat.

The Aspinall Foundation, which runs Port Lympe, has bred 32 calves and have returned five back to protected areas of the wild in Africa.