Not one, not two, but three gifts from Rhino mums all over the world have gladdened our May days!
Great news from Zurich Zoo (CH)! A baby Southern White Rhino has been born in the new part of the Facility that was scheduled to open in April this year . The baby is a little female that mother Tanda (27 years old) brought to the world on 7 May 2020. Tanda was transferred from Ramat Gan Safari last year to Zurich, together with two of her older daughters, Teshi and Thelathini, and a young bull called Rami, creating a corridor between Rhinos that resides in Europe and the ones that live far away in Israel: this allows the two metapopulations, that are considered on the chart as one under the EEP association but were physically divided by Kilometres and burocracy, to really merge for the first time. It is high probable that both of Tanda’s older daughters will be transferred to another Facility in the future. Regarding Rami, it is not clear. He could remain in Zurich and become one day the breeding bull or be moved, too. Tanda, on her arrivals, was already pregnant from dad Atari – one of the oldest breeding bull in the EEP still on its “prime” at Ramat Gan! – and she is now attending properly to her new calf, who is her seventh. The little lady has received the name Ushindi, which means “triumph, victory, success” in Swahili, as the Zoo name all the babies born in 2020 with a name that begins with “U”. We love this name and it breaks the long tradition of Tanda and all of her heirs named with “T”, a tradition that is still going on in Ramat Gan!
Another birth arrives from Patna Zoo (IN) and she’s again a little female. Indian rhino mum Gauri (her official name is Akanksha) is under strict monitoring from a team of veterinary doctors after giving birth and it’s confirmed that both mom and calf are doing well. They will reside in a separate enclosure, as it always happens with newborns, while dad Ayodhya will continue to stay in the main one. It was meanwhile also announced that female Rani is expecting, too.
Last but not least Hamilton Zoo (NZ) announced the birth of Southern White Rhino Kito’s last calf, Zahra! She’s the last arrived and will join the other 5 members of the crash. Her names means “flower” in Swahili. The Zoo kept secret her birth, which took place on the 12th of March 2020, because little Zahra has a rare skin condition, called Epidermiolysis bullosa, that lead her skin to develope vescicles on the legs or chin. This condition has a probable genetical origin and it is something that Zahra will have through all her life. Anyway, it seems not affecting her at all, as she is seen running around the enclosure with her mum without any hesistation. Mum Kito is a gorgeous mum, even if her debuts was not so easy, with her first calf, Ubuntu, born with bilateral intraocular bleeding – he needed human help between his first weeks of life – and her second one, a female, deceased at birth, due to an accidental internal injury.
Zahra could meet in the future her dad, Kruger, and her older full-brother, Samburu, who, at almost 4 years of age, is still at the Zoo and it is not clear if and when is going to leave.
