A sad news reached us from Japan where Worldrhino teammate Yuko Imaizumi resides: Hana, the oldest Eastern Black Rhino (of the world!) died on Saturday 8 September 2018.
According to Official Release, “Hana’s temperature dropped Friday evening” so “zoo staff warmed her room but she was found dead the next morning. She is believed to have died of old age.” Hana was belived to be 52 years old!
Thanks to Yuko, who really loved Hana, we can add some info and can assure that Hana had the best care she deserved: the day before her death, she was fine as usual. This means that Hana was not suffering at all and she probably simply died in her sleep.
Hana left in Hiroshima one of her calves, rhino lady Saki, and one of her granddaughters, Nico. Hana contributed enormously to her species: she had 12 calves of which 8 are still alive! Her legacy continues through her descendants that are distributed in all of the three captivity populations of Eastern Black Rhino: Japan, Europe and North America. You can find any Hana descendants searching in our website.
At the end of August, Woburn Safari Park (UK) announced that one of the Southern White Rhino ladies died suddenly: it is Mtubamtuba, that was only 13 years old. The Zoo released no further info on this (for us) unbelievable death. In November 2016, Woburn imported rhino Otto in order to stimulate the resident male Kei and the females, that, besides the great potential, didn’t breed properly. Otto left Woburn few months ago, but again there are no info about him: did he have success or not? If anyone has additional info, do please contact us through our official page or mail. Thank you.
