There are some changes in the American Southern White Rhino metapopulation!
The first one refers to Nashville Zoo, located in Tennessee, USA. In May 2017 the facility opened a brand new exhibit which became home to four Southern White Rhino young ladies that were imported from South Africa. All of them are now around 4 years old and are approaching sexual maturity.
Since the Zoo is willing to start a Breeding Program for Rhino, last December a male was brought in from Florida. His name’s “T.C.” but there is no info on him that we can share for sure since it is not clear when he was born. He arrived on 1 December 2018 from the Rum Creek Ranch (on the site we refer this place also to CCTU), a private sanctuary in Florida.
The second one concerns San Antonio Zoo in Texas, USA. It renovated and opened a new exhibit for Rhinos, with the aim to become again a breeding facility. The first Rhino to arrive on 19 February 2019 was a female Southern White called Nyota, born in 2015 in Busch Garden Tampa Bay (Florida). Her mum had a new daughter at the end of 2017 (Winnifred).
A few days later, the second Southern White Rhino arrived: her name is Ophelia. She was born in White Oak (Florida) on 29 January 2016 to a first-time mum called Annie and an experienced bull called Bullie. Unfortunately, Ophelia soon became an orphan, since her mum died a few weeks after her birth because of an unknown generalized infection. Anyway, she was adopted by another female and she grew up in a healthy young Rhino female.
The girls, that became friends very soon, will be joined by a male, later in the year. Obviously, there is no info available now on who is this new male.
We do really hope that this new breeding facilities could produce rhino calves in the near future since an important number of young females is involved and it is vital that all of them start having babies in 3-4 years from now. Otherwise, the latency in became pregnant could lead to infertility troubles and in a metapopulation that is lacking females is something that shall not happen. All of these six females involved, also, are of great genetical value, especially the four females in Nashville that were imported from Africa.
Forth Worth in Texas waves goodbye to two of its older residents, since it is preparing for important renovations to their Asian species exhibit: Indian Rhino Shanti and Arun were transferred to Oklahoma City Zoo in middle February 2019. The pair will gradually be introduced to the new surroundings, but the facility hopes to introduced soon the male Arun to the resident female, Niki, for breeding. Shanti, otherwise, is quite old to produce any offspring and she will spend her last day with no more breeding encounters.
Even in Europe things are changing in order to improve the breeding situations for the Southern White Rhino metapopulation.
Augsburg Zoo (Germany) waves goodbye to its younger female Keeva: at 3 years of age and with her own father at the Zoo there was a high risk of inbreeding. She was transferred on Monday 4 March 2019 to Knowsley (UK) where she will soon meet the big crash there.
