COTSWOLD Wildlife Park's newest rhino has endured a difficult start in life, but was comforted by one of the filmmakers behind Blue Planet.

Belle, the latest addition to the herd at the Burford attraction, received a visit from Chadden Hunter, who has worked on several of Sir David Attenborough's programmes.

The wildlife biologist and filmmaker came to West Oxfordshire on Tuesday to meet the park's most endangered species and conservation projects.

Dr Hunter met the park's white rhinos ahead of 'rhino month' in August , which will raise awareness and funds for projects with the one-tonne creatures in Africa.

Read also: Wildlife Park's hundreds of species revealed

Belle became the first hand-reared rhino calf in the park's history last year due to a leg injury that was noticed soon after birth.

The next day, Belle’s issue with her injured leg had escalated and required urgent veterinary attention.

The X-rays showed no evidence of a break or dislocation, but Belle still struggled to walk after the leg was put in a cast and she was visibly in a straight of distress.

The park's curator, Jamie Craig, said: “To preserve the calf, an extremely important animal for the breeding programme, we had no alternative but to remove her from her mother for the week that the leg was in a cast."

Keepers remained with Belle throughout the next stage of her recovery and they subsequently formed a strong bond with the animal.

She has since been reunited with her mother, Nancy, and will gradually be reintroduced to the rest of the herd until she is a fully-fledged member of the group.