As usual we’ll list the news published in the latest weeks
RHINO BIRTHS
Two facilities announced two different births with nearly two months of delay. Sometimes the announcement is postponed because there could be a problem with the mother and baby bond, a calf health issue or, more often, the birth happens while the zoo is closed. Gulf Breeze Zoo (USA) announced the birth of its second Southern White Rhino calf ever (even if its date of birth is still not public: we can only assume that it happened in mid-December 2020). The male has been called Kalibur and follows his older sister that was born in 2018: mom Kathie and dad Robbie represents one of the few couple that reproduce well without a herd. In fact, as we often write here, the best performances in breeding are obtained when southern white rhinos are held in groups (called crash). This is a great news because the two calves born here are of great genetic importance since their mother is wild born. Kathie was imported in the USA together with at least two other female rhinos (they are the two ladies held at Virginia Safari Park). However we are a bit concerned because all the calves born from these three females still resides within the maternal herd: it’s really important that, as we knows, calves are moved out within the third year of life (otherwise the cohabitation could be improper). We hope that this transfers may happen in the shortes time possible, even if we don’t know if these facilities are in the AZA network.
The second facility that announced a Southern White Rhino birth behind is La-Boissière-du-Doré (FR). On 19 December 2020 mom Swanie and dad Max welcomed their third calf, a healthy female that has not received a name yet. This calf was born only two year later than her brother, a good news since their older sister, named Wasi, is now an adult female.)
January was a very good month, with the birth of three calves. The very first calf of the year was born in Wroclaw Zoo (PL): Indian Rhinos Maruska and Manas welcomed their first daughter on 6 January. The calf has just been given the name Kiran, that means “sunshine”.
On 20 January Lee Richardson Zoo (Kansas, USA) welcomed its first Eastern Black Rhino ever: Johari and Jabari had their first calf that received the name Ayubu, which means “perseverance” in Swahili. Both this births are important because they happened from very young first time parents: Maruska is the youngest (almost 7 years old).
The last January’s calf arrived at Serengeti Park-Hodenhagen (DE): experienced Southern White Rhino mom Uzuri gave birth to her fourth calf on 30 January. The baby, a daughter, has just received the name Zawadi which means “the gift” in Swahili.
At the same facility arrived also the first calf of February, Zawadi’s half sister. Mom Claudia welcomed a female calf named Salma on 6 February: Zawadi and Salma are in fact half-sister because they share the same father, the bull Martin. It is not unusual that female rhinos living together do give birth few days apart: that also happens in the wild.
This happened indeed even at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Lindal-in-Furness (UK), which has just welcomed another Southern White Rhino in its herd: experienced mom Ntombi on 8 February has welcomed a female called Azeeza whose name means “strong, powerful and dear”. She in fact follows her half-sister Iniko by few weeks: the two females share the same dad, who is bull Mazungu.
PREGNANCIES
By now we have no news about other pregnanices aside the one we listed on the post “Confirmed pregnancies about 2021”
DEATHS
We unfortunately have to list some big loss in the Eastern Black Rhinos meta-population: in fact 4 specimens are lost.
Dvur Kralove Safari Park (CZ) announced not one but two deaths: “the matriarch” Jessi was euthanized at the age of 36 at the beginning of January. The cause of death were “health problems correlated to her old age”. Obviously Jessi’s death was a blow and it’s even aggravated by the fact that one of her offspring, daughter Jasmina, 11 years old, died in Rwanda few weeks before, at the end of 2020. Jasmina was one out of five Eastern Black Rhinos that in June 2019 left Europe for reintroduction in Rwanda. She succumbed to injuries she suffered after a fight with an elephant. We recall that out of 5 released rhinoceros, another one born in Dvur Kralove, Manny, died few months after the release due to intestinal constipation. The official release stated that he did not get used to his new diet.
These are heavy losses for the meta population: we are not of course against animal transfer for reintroduction, but if the risks are that high (with nearly 50% of this group deceased) it would be probably better to reorganize the transfer planning, maybe giving more space to younger animals (since the older ones seem to not adapt very well to their new environment). It’s awesome to bring back animals from where they came, but if loss are that high we can’t stop thinking if, at the moment, it’s worth it.
On 15 January 2021 the USA lost Toshi, the oldest Eastern Black Rhino in the continent. He has been struggling for weeks against loss of appetite and gross weight reduction: he underwent anesthesia to find out the cause but, even if he woke up perfectly, its condition worsened during the following week. The hard decision was made to end his suffering. We want to remember that Toshi was born in Japan and brought a lot of genetic value in North American meta-population thanks to the many calves he sired. At Miami Metro Zoo remain two black rhinos: a couple formed by Circe and Eddie. We hope that they will be reproductive again, even if at the moment we do not know if the SSP is still recommending their breeding.
Last but not least the loss of the bull N’Dugu, 24 years old, at Leipzig (DE). He died on 2 February 2021 marking an immense lost for the European meta population, which is losing many adult males at the moment. N’Dugu was in his prime, but unfortunately the exact cause of death is not known: according to a news release that is not quite clear, N’Dugu suffered of intestinal constipation that ended in failure of the respiratory system (our vet team is still unsure of what this means). He had only 3 calves alive: we really hope that his legacy could continue through all of them.
TRANSFERS
At the moment we have no news about transfers even if many of them are planned.
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