Here we are with a third part of our rich bundle of news from Rhinos!
We planned to talk about Pregnancies and Deaths, as they are a part of the same coin, as life is strictly interconnected with death, but we can’t be more enthusiastic with two births to announce!

In Buin Zoo, in Chile, South America, White Rhinos mum Hannah and dad Oliver, both 7 years old, welcomed their second calf! After Pantalèon born in July 2017, the couple has now another little male: he has been called Atanasio. According to the Official Facebook page, Atanasio was born on 5 July 2020, after a quick labour. Mum Hannah is proudly raising him with appropriate cares and a lot of milk!
Hannah and Oliver are, currently, the unique breeding couple of White Rhino in South America that is producing calves. And more noticeably, we’d like to highlight that obtaining calves from a single pair of White Rhino is a hard matter: adult females tend to stay in groups, called crash, for breeding. The vision, now, among the Zoo Facilities is to have at least two females and one (or more) male as a “healthy” breeding crash. Hannah and Oliver are breaking the rules, as often happens in Biology, and are perfectly working together. The are few other couples of White Rhinos that do repeat Buin Rhinos success: for example, we can mention Tim and Kayla from California!
Atanasio’s brother, Pantalèon, is set to depart from his native Zoo and reach Colombia. Unfortunately, at the moment we do not know where and when this will happen.
In Planckendael Zoo, in Belgium, Indian Rhino Karamat, almost 10 years old, has given birth to her second calf, a daughter. Born on 9 July 2020, the little lady has received the name of “Vaiana”, which means “strong as a rock”. Even this time, as it was in 2015 with Vaiana’s older brother Qabid, the Facility asked followers to decide between other two names. At Planckendael, besides mum and calf, there is also Vaiana’s dad, Gujurat. Unfortunately, the oldest “European” Indian Rhino female, Johanna, which was almost 38 years old, passed away in mid-June. She has spent all her life in Planckendael, where she was born in August 1982. Johanna is survived by three children, two daughters and one son, and four grand-children!

Let’s start with three new Pregnancies!
Thanks to our dear Friend Robyn N.G. we can confirm that Indian Rhino Jamie, in Tampa’s Lowry Park, Florida, is heavy pregnant! She is due in a couple of months from now. This is indeed a good news, since Jamie has given birth to three calves in the past, but unfortunately her daughter and her younger son both died at an adult age, without any offspring. Fortunately, the other son, Jahi, has welcomed last year Jamie’s first grand-daughter!
Also, it was announced that one of Taronga Western Plains Zoo Southern Black Rhino is expecting, around half-way of the pregnancy. We are not sure who this lady is, but we think she could be Kufara, the younger breeding female.
Also, Lee Richardson Zoo in Kansas has announced a pregnancy! This time is from a first-time mum, Johari! she and her mate, Jabari, will welcome their very first calf in 2021. This is indeed a gorgeous news, because the USA meta population of Eastern Black Rhino needs more breeding couples!

This part of the post is dedicated to the Passings.
Besides Johanna, whom we have mentioned above, another Indian Rhino in Europe died in June 2020: it is Jung, born in Warsaw, Poland, only 2 years ago! According to an Official Facebook post by the Warsaw Zoo, Jung suffered from a severe colic in April. He seemed to recover at first, and was strictly monitored by Vets and Keepers, but something went wrong. He suddenly was unable to get up, probably some vascular complication may occur, and then he passed away. Jung was the third calf for rhino couple Shikari and Kuba (Jacob).
Chicago Lincoln Park has just announced the death of its oldest Eastern Black Rhino male, Maku (thanks to Darin S. for the news!). He was 34 years old and was one of oldest Eastern Black Rhino in human care in USA. He was euthanized on Thursday 9 July 2020 due to age-related health problems. Makuu (or Maku) has contributed to his subspecies population with three surviving son: his last calf, Romeo, is still at the Facility with mum Kapuki! Besides, he will be greatly missed: he loved to “mud bath” in the snow, recalled the zoo’s curator of mammals.
Last, but not least, we have received the communication that another Eastern Black Rhino in the USA died at the end of 2018, but we have no details. We suspect it could be both Susan K, the female that used to live in San Diego Safari Park, or Tucker, an adult male that was transferred in Florida. Unfortunately, we lost tracks of both this two guys. Moreover we just find out that Timbavati Wildlife Park in Winsconsin has a male Southern White Rhino called Naasaha since July 2019. We do not know where he is from, just that he is 4 years old. We ask your help, Rhino Lovers from the world!

More and more things are happening even in Europe: Southern White Rhino Ekozu, 4 years old, was transferred on 15 July from England to Hodenhagen. He will likely be the new breeding male there, once fully grown.
And Eastern Black Rhino Kibeta, 3 years old, was meant to be transferred from Tallinn, in Estonia (?) to Twycross in England. The move is planned to take place in September or October this year!