Black rhinos in Europe

16-06-2008

The second calf of Ursoni x Nane is named Thabo (b. 5/2008).

16-07-2008

This time actually a pre-posting: Doue la Fontaine will receive another female Eastern black rhino Diceros bicornis michaeli soon. The chosen candidate is female Tisa ex Koelner Zoo who has been reluctant to mate and is incompatible with the local bull Taco.

This means that next to full grown male Kata Kata, bullish Jeremy and young cow (and perhaps now attaining sexual maturity at 5) a second potential breeding pair will be formed (I suppose the bull Kata Kata is destined to be Tisa's suitor).

The transfer is still under some wraps, but will happen end of this month.

16-07-2008

Lets hope that 'Kata Kata' will breed successfully. He and his sister 'Rosie' at Chester are the only surviving offspring of the exWhipsnade/London/Port Lympne pair Bwaqna Mkubwa & Mama Kidogo and neither yet have produced any offspring themselves. As they're having big problems getting 'Rosie' to breed, bull 'Kata Kata' is genetically an important animal.

08-08-2008

I'm just putting it out there but how heavy are Black Rhino Bulls in Captivity, in europe? Do they have a new breed standard of physical measurements compared to thw wild like some other species, or are they pretty much the same?

Quinto moves to Port Lympne.
26-09-2008

Mature bull 'Quinto' has apparently recently moved from Chester Zoo to Port Lympne. This is a good move in my opinion, as there are more breeding opportunities there and PL are in need of another breeding bull at the present time.

27-09-2008

I agree two hopefully the Rhino group will experince many births to come,

Quinto settles in?
13-10-2008

'Quinto' moved to Port Lympne from Chester about a month ago now. He is having a bit of a problem settling down and is still very nervous of his enclosure and reluctant to go into his paddock for very long. The keeper told me he isn't scent marking or showing any territorial behaviour yet,either, which in their experience is unusual for a new bull arriving there. However they are hopeful his confidence will improve when he is run with females.

Kingo, the other mature bull which returned from Paignton Zoo a few months ago, is now settled and living with two females(sorry, can't remember names)

13-10-2008

Do you know which females he we be introduced too?

13-10-2008

I think he mentioned the names but there are so many I can't remember. It can be any of those which are related to their only other mature bull 'Kingo', who was born there, so there's a choice of several. I think they want to give him more time to settle in though as they are a bit concerned about how nervous he is and what he might do if he suddenly panicked (like smash the fence down!)
He looked rather sorry for himself, wandering around giving pathetic little squeaks. A keeper was 'baby minding' with him to make sure he was okay.

14-10-2008

So he has contact with them all the time? If I remember correctly, while at Paignton he and Sita were usually kept apart. You didn't happen to ask the keeper why Kingo and Sita had different skin textures, did you?

14-10-2008

Kingo is living out in a grass paddock with both females. Their rhinos are outside all day(probably night too) in huge grass paddocks. Its exactly like a racehorse 'stud'. (I guess they must be seperated if they are brought into the small indoor houses and yards though) At a zoo like PAignton this sort of regime wouldn't be possible with the small paddock/ security etc. All the rhino paddocks at PL connect with each other via 'kissing' gates across the service roads, so they can move any rhino to any paddock over the whole area.

I didn't ask about skin types, but as I said before, no PL rhinos look like Sita- they are all 'smoothies' there.

15-10-2008

All rhinos need to settle and generally cows have it easier than the bulls. In particular, black rhinos are sensitive to any intrusion by definition of their somewhat solitary bushveld lifestyle. Thus, it is NOT surprising that some rhinos not adjusted to the vast spaces of PL need TIME to settle fully. This process may even take months rather than weeks.

At PL the regime is rather fluid and keepers will mind their rhinos personally (as has happened since the early Aspinall days). At this time, bull Quinto - having never had any experience of vast enclosures - needs all the encouragement he needs to explore his own exhibit. Only after he has completely calmed down can he be introduced to his prospective mates at PL.

Kingo will probably have been introduced to Nakuru (Vuyu) (no relation sire or dam)and Jaga (Dvur born and bred). Other possible candidates are: Vuyu, Etna and Salome.

Quinto could be introduced to Arusha (shares sire with Kingo) and Vuyu (Nakuru).
Both Ruaha and Nyasa share (some) genes with Kingo and are therefore unlikely candidates for breeding to him.

Cows with attendant calves: Etna (Grumeti) and Ruaha (Monduli). Quite possibly even Vuyu (Damara), allthough I suppose that one will have been weaned off her by now.

Cows now of an suitable age for first breeding are Salome (b. 2000) and Nyasa (b.2003).

I have similarly posted this one on the PL black rhino thread.

15-10-2008

Quinto did have a pretty big grass paddock during the several years he was at Whipsnade. His current paddock is probably no bigger than the one at Chester he was using. He's just nervous because its all new...

However, the management regime at Chester is very different to PL. The rhinos at Chester are orientated more toward their indoor quarters- being fed indoors and shut in nights. Also at Chester Quinto was kept mostly alone and only mixed with a female for mating attempts. At PL bull and cows live together full time and its much more the 'outdoor life' for them. No doubt he'll adjust to all this gradually.

They told me he hasn't started to scent mark or show other territorial behaviour yet- unusual in their experience of new incoming bulls. However, I'm sure he will settle okay in due course.

Apparently the C.O.D of several of the other bulls which died at Port Lympne(Jos, Jasper, Mwakini etc) was in each case- Iron Storage Disease, it is stress related apparently.