Much like my Giraffe thread, i've decided to embark on a journey to find as much as I can about the history of rhinos within our region - all three subspecies (White, Black and Indian). I'll be starting off with White Rhinos first, and first up will be Dubbo (Taronga Western Plains Zoo).
1. Taronga Western Plains Zoo PART 1 - The Foundations The first record of White Rhinos at Dubbo in the Studbook are a trio that arrived from Taronga in 1980. These were Dubbo's first White Rhinos. On 06/05/1980, 1.2 White Rhino arrived from Taronga: 0.1 Tessie (00/00/1966 - 04/11/1988) 1.0 Thomas (00/00/1968 - 23/12/2003) 0.1 Nicole (00/00/1968 - 13/09/2000) Tessie had the following offspring: 1.0 Sag (18/05/1981 - 20/05/1981) x Thomas 1.0 Nkulu (21/05/1984 - 18/08/1984) x Thomas 0.1 Likiwezi (20/12/1985) x Thomas, Sent to Werribee 24/07/1989 0.1 Stillborn (02/11/1988) x Thomas On 26/11/1981, 0.2 White Rhino arrived from Taronga: 0.1 Tdnandi (23/10/1976 - 26/01/1984) 0.1 Margaret (27/12/1977 - 14/02/1984) Tdnandi had the following offspring: 1.0 Stumpy (17/07/1983) x Thomas, Sent to Orana 05/11/1988 On 26/07/1989, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Werribee: 0.1 Alexandra (06/11/1980 - 25/12/2004) Alexandra had the following offspring: 0.1 Stillborn (24/06/1991) x Thomas
Part 2 - The Kruger Herd With a diminishing herd, consisting of a single pair (Thomas and Alexandra) the decision was made to join Monarto in a large White Rhino import from the Kruger National Park. On 14/02/2003, 2.3 White Rhino arrived from Kruger via Monarto: 1.0 Khulu (00/00/1990 - 00/00/2019) 1.0 Umfana (00/00/1994) Sent to Monarto 00/04/2022 0.1 Aluka (00/00/1995 - 00/03/2012) 0.1 Umqali (00/00/1994) Sent to Monarto 23/09/2010 0.1 Intombi (00/00/1997 - 00/03/2012) Umqali mothered the following calves: 0.1 Azizi (16/03/2003 - 00/03/2012) x unk 1.0 Kei (06/02/2006) x Khulu, Sent to Australia Zoo 24/08/2009 0.1 Nadira (10/04/2008) x Umfana Intombi mothered the following calves: 0.1 Amira (16/01/2005 - 00/03/2012) x Thomas 1.0 Jabari (04/10/2006) x Khulu, Sent to Australia Zoo 24/08/2009 Aluka mothered the following calves: 0.1 Inyeti (26/01/2005) x Thomas, Sent to Australia Zoo 05/08/2010 1.0 Unnamed (05/12/2007 - 05/12/2007) x Umfana Azizi (daughter of Umqali) mothered the following calves: 0.0.1 Unnamed (24/07/2009 - 24/07/2009) x Khulu On 21/09/2010, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Monarto: 0.1 Mopani (00/00/1996) Mopani mothered the following calves: 1.0 Macheo (14/05/2013 - 11/07/2016) x Unk 0.1 Kamari (19/12/2015) x Unk 0.1 Meeka (18/08/2019 - 31/05/2022) x Khulu In February 2013, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Werribee: 0.1 Likiwezi (20/12/1985) On 19/06/2015, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Australia Zoo: 1.0 Winston (04/05/2013) In March 2017, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Australia Zoo: 1.0 Humphrey (11/10/2015) In April 2022, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Monarto Zoo: 1.0 Satara (00/00/1992)
Part 3 - Summary Dubbo have successfully bred 17 calves; two of which were stillborn. The 15 surviving calves consisted of (7.7) discounting a calf that's gender wasn't noted. Dubbo's most prolific breeder to date was Tessie who produced four calves in the 80's. Thomas sired the most calves (eight). Longevity wise, Thomas is the zoo's oldest living bull (living to the age of 35). Their overall eldest individual is cow, Likiwezi (who's 36). Thomas's line continues through his daughter Inyeti at the Australia Zoo. Currently, Dubbo have 3.3 White Rhino; breeding bull, Satara; cows Mopani, Likiwezi and Kamari; and bachelor bulls, Winston and Humphrey.
I believe the first 3 WR were imported from the Longleat Safari park in the UK also I believe some of the later imports to Dubbo came from Whipsnade zoo in the UK.
Yes thats correct. The original trio came from Longleat via Soest and Taronga. Tnandi and Margaret (imported 1981) came from Whipsnade, as did Alexandra (who was imported in 1989 via Werribee). The other trio (Thomas, Tessie and Nicole) also came from Soest via Taronga. All three were wildborn, but Tessie spent time at Longleat additionally.
2. Auckland Zoo On 22/09/1980 1.1 White Rhino were imported from San Diego Safari Park: 1.0 Mandhla (05/05/1979 - 03/07/2007) 0.1 Sesheka (04/04/1979) Sent to Orana 12/10/1993 On 19/10/1999 1.2 White Rhino were imported from Kruger: 1.0 Kruger (00/00/1989) Sent to Hamilton 16/05/2007 0.1 Mazithi (00/00/1986 - 05/09/2003) 0.1 Mbili (19/07/1998 - 06/09/2003) Mazithi gave birth to: 0.1 Kito (26/06/2000) Sent to Hamilton 24/11/2004 On 16/05/2007, 3.0 White Rhino arrived from Hamilton: 1.0 Zambezi (00/00/1992) 1.0 Inkosi (06/05/2002 - 23/03/2022) 1.0 Mtoto (17/02/2004) Sent to Altina 06/09/2016 On 27/11/2018, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Auckland: 0.1 Jamila (06/03/2012) Jamila mothered the following calves: 0.1 Nyah (13/08/2020) x Zambezi
3. Orana Wildlife Park On, 17/05/1986 1.2 White Rhino arrived from Wellington: 1.0 Nakili (06/12/1984) Sent to Tipperary 31/05/1990 0.1 Utani (08/07/1984) 0.1 Mapenzi (29/07/1984 - unknown) Utani gave birth to: 1.0 Ibutho (16/08/1999) x Cyrano, Sent to Monarto 25/05/2004 On 05/11/1988, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Dubbo: 1.0 Stumpy (17/07/1983 - 15/06/2022) On 03/01/1990, 3.1 White Rhino arrived from US: 1.0 Star (30/06/1987) Sent to Tipperary 31/05/1990 1.0 Memphis (23/10/1987) Sent to Perth 19/05/1990 1.0 Cyrano (23/01/1987 - unknown) 0.1 Mwivi (13/10/1988) Sent to Perth 19/05/1990 On 12/10/1993 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Auckland: 0.1 Sesheka (04/04/1979 - 01/11/1993) On 02/04/2007, 0.2 White Rhino arrived from Perth: 0.1 Katala (00/00/1997) 0.1 Tamu (22/12/2002) Tamu mothered the following calves: 1.0 Eco (01/05/2010) x Cyrano, Sent to National Zoo 00/00/2014 1.0 Tino (14/02/2015) x Cyrano, Sent to Sydney Zoo 06/04/2022 0.1 Unnamed (00/05/2017 - 00/05/2017) x Stumpy
It's interesting to think that, in the 1990s, Tipperary received animals from a number of major zoos - Orana, Werribee, etc - seemingly without a hint of how that story would end. I believe that Nakili ended up in Cairns (and presumably onto Bali). Do we know what happened to Star in the end?
Yes i've looked at my list so far and found the Orana rhinos were the only sent to Tipperary: 1.0 Nakili (06/12/1984) Sent to Tipperary 31/05/1990 1.0 Star (30/06/1987) Sent to Tipperary 31/05/1990 Star was sent to Cairns 17/12/2003, and he died there 29/05/2005. He was euthanised due to musculoskeletal trauma. Nakili was also sent to Cairns with Star. He was most likely sent to Bali circa 2013, as he never died at Cairns.
Historical notes on Auckland Zoo’s rhinoceros: Sesheka and Mandla were half siblings. This was the reason for Sesheka’s transfer to Orana Willdife Park. Mazithi was extremely hostile to Kruger upon their introduction. This was likely due to her being pregnant on arrival and non receptive to his attentions. She subsequently became aggressive to her juvenile calf, Mbili, in the days leading up to the birth of Kito and they were separated. Introductions were attempted between Mandla and Mbili in 2001, but he was aggressive and they were separated. By 2002, Auckland Zoo had succeeded in reintegrating Mazithi (and Kito) with Mbili; and managed to introduce Kruger once Kito was weaned. The intention was to breed Kruger with Mazithi, but this sadly never eventuated with her death the following year. Mazithi and Mbili both died of a suspected bacterium in their feed. Mbili was showing signs of recovery, but sadly died the day after Mazithi. It was a huge blow to the breeding programme.
Many of the zoos were grateful to offload their surplus animals to Tipperary. Taronga sent them surplus bull giraffes and Auckland Zoo sent them 1.1 Common hippopotamus. Auckland Zoo had destroyed their previous male hippopotamus calf (Floyd) at the age of five after he came into conflict with his father; so the opportunity to export his younger brother (Fonzee) was eagerly taken up. The female they included in the export (Solucky) arguably could have remained at Auckland. She would have been company for her mother (Snorkel) who was removed from the pod shortly after; but it’s perhaps lucky they did send her, as she bred with Fonzee to produce Cuddles.
Yes, they shared the same sire. I'd imagine Auckland kept Sesheka as long as they could; as a companion for Mandla. Eventually though she reached prime breeding age and was sent to Orana. There, she was killed less than a month after her arrival due to injuries from another rhino. I'm not sure which one, but i'm imagining it was one of the males (Stumpy or Cyrano). Their deaths were such a devastation to Auckland's program, which was already experiencing success. It's great to see Jamila's breeding so well now. Losses of multiple females in that manner was also experienced most notably by Dubbo (back in 2012). The bacterium was identified as being 'Theileria bicornis'. The four deaths left Dubbo with two bulls and a single cow. The surviving cow Mopani was noted to have 'barely survived' - apparently she got extremely sick. Meanwhile the two bulls were apparently asymptomatic, which was very interesting to me.
I don’t believe Mandla and Sesheka would have ever bred - likely due to the familiarity of knowing each other since infancy. Females can give birth as young as seven, so at 14 there’d been ample time for this to be accomplished. More consideration to sourcing unrelated mates was given from the 90’s onwards, so there was a strong argument to transferring her. Sesheka died at Orana Wildlife Park after falling into the moat. She was trying to flee the mating attentions of one of the bulls (it wasn’t stated which, though Cyrano was more motivated to breed so I’d guess him). The loss of Mazithi and Mbili was indeed a great loss to the breeding programme, though I don’t believe the Auckland herd would have experienced success with that herd. Mazithi didn’t regard Kruger as an impressive bull and given she failed to conceive in the 12-18 months they had together could even indicate she’d stopped cycling (as the Hamilton cows did with Zambezi). Mbili and Kito would have likely been suppressed by their mother - meaning exchanges with Hamilton probably would have resulted.
Werribee: On 19/10/1981 1.1 White Rhino arrived from Whipsnade: 1.0 Lee (21/09/1980 - 00/00/2019) 0.1 Alexandra (06/11/1980) Sent to Dubbo 26/07/1989 On 19/10/1999 2.3 White Rhino arrived from Kruger: 1.0 Umgana (00/00/1988) 0.1 Make (00/00/1984) 0.1 Letaba (00/00/1992) 0.1 Sisi (19/01/1996) Letaba gave birth to the following calves: 1.0 Ganini (25/09/2002) Sent to Australia Zoo 16/05/2007 x Umgana 1.0 Tawali (25/11/2004) Sent to Australia Zoo 01/04/2008 x Umgana Sisi gave birth to the following calves: 1.0 Unnamed (28/10/2002 - 28/10/2002) x Umgana 1.0 Unnamed (14/03/2006 - 18/03/2006) x Umgana 0.1 Kipenzi (30/05/2013) x Umgana 0.1 Pepper (27/12/2014 - 30/12/2014) x Umgana In 2002, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Emmen: 1.0 Kapamba (18/03/1996) Sent to Halls Gap 28/08/2019 On 28/08/2019, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Halls Gap: 1.0 Kifaru (30/04/2009)
Werribee Breeding It’s interesting to hear of another zoo fail to breed from a pair imported as juveniles and held in a 1.1 grouping. Incompatibility was clearly the issue given she conceived a calf at Dubbo seven months after her transfer. Werribee have really struggled to build up a decent sized herd - with Letaba producing males, who were transferred out; and Sisi producing only one surviving calf (Kipenzi). Hopefully Kifaru and Kipenzi are successful in breeding. There’s also a chance Sisi will breed too. Letaba would be non viable now considering it’s been 18 years since she last bred.
They were half siblings, so that would explain why they never bred. It's interesting to see they never attempted to breed from Make, who was an experienced breeder. Leeroy was an inconsistent breeder, so he never succeeded in the breeding program. Werribee went as far as importing a bull from Emmen (Kapamba), but Kapamba never bred due to a medical condition. That left only Umgana, who was and still is a keen breeder, but has been retired due to his many granchildren at the Australia Zoo. Letaba was the only reliable mother, but she too was retired due to DJ's success at Beerwah. The problem with Sisi was she didn't know how to raise calves, meaning they always had to be hand raised. The keepers weren't aware if she actually didn't know what to do with them, or if she was just lazy and couldn't be bothered (similar to Yuska the gorilla at Melbourne). I have my fingers crossed for Kifaru and Kipenzi. Apparently they've mated multiple times already which is a great sign. Unfortunately Werribee have no plans to breed from Sisi anytime soon due to her inability to raise calves. She's been retired from breeding, which ultimately leaves Kipenzi as Werribee's sole breeding female. Which, again, isn't great for construction of a decent sized herd. Hopefully with the Orana import upcoming later this year, Werribee will receive some females at least.
5. Perth Zoo: On 19/05/1990, 1.1 White Rhino arrived from Orana: 1.0 Memphis (23/10/1987) 0.1 Mwivi (13/10/1988 - 04/08/1990) On 19/10/1999 0.2 White Rhino arrived from Kruger: 0.1 Sabie (00/00/1995) Sent to Monarto 02/04/2007 0.1 Katala (00/00/1997) Sent to Orana 02/04/2007 Sabie mothered the following calves: 0.1 Tamu (22/12/2002) x Memphis, Sent to Orana 02/04/2007 1.0 Bakari (28/05/2005) x Memphis
6. Monarto Safari Park: On 09/12/2000, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Singapore: 0.1 Uhura (26/05/1996) Uhura mothered the following calves: 1.0 Watoto (28/04/2005) x Satara, Sent to Australia Zoo 01/04/2008 1.0 Nibla (02/10/2007) x Satara, Sent to Singapore 08/11/2010 0.1 Kibibi (02/10/2012) x Satara, Sent to Australia 20/10/2017 On 20/09/2002, 3.4 White Rhino arrived from Kruger: 1.0 Khulu (00/00/1990) Sent to Dubbo 14 /02/2003 1.0 Satara (00/00/1992) Sent to Dubbo 00/04/2022 1.0 Umfana (00/00/1994) Sent to Dubbo 14/02/2003 0.1 Mopani (00/00/1996) Sent to Dubbo 21/09/2010 0.1 Aluka (00/00/1995) Sent to Dubbo 14/02/2003 0.1 Umqali (00/00/1994) Sent to Dubbo 14/02/2003 0.1 Intombi (00/00/1995) Sent to Dubbo 14/03/2003 On 25/05/2004, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Orana: 1.0 Ibutho (16/08/1999) On 02/04/2007, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Perth: 0.1 Sabie (00/00/1995 - unknown) On 23/09/2010, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Dubbo: 0.1 Umqali (00/00/1994) Umqali mothered the following calves: 1.0 Digger (25/04/2011) x Khulu, Sent to Monarto 00/00/2014 2008 0.1 Tundu (12/04/2015 - 26/04/2017) x Satara 0.1 Imani (05/11/2018 - 21/10/2019) x Satara 0.1 Eshe (22/07/2020 - 19/11/2021) x Satara On 24/10/2017, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Australia: 0.1 Savannah (12/04/2011) In April 2022. 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Dubbo: 1.0 Umfana (00/00/1994)
7. Hamilton Zoo On 20/10/1999 1.2 White Rhino arrived from Kruger: 1.0 Zambezi (00/00/1992) Sent to Auckland 16/05/2007 0.1 Moesha (00/00/1994) 0.1 Cabelle (00/00/1995) Sent to Australia Zoo 01/08/2010 Cabelle gave birth to: 1.0 Inkosi (06/05/2002) x Zambezi, Sent to Auckland 16/05/2007 1.0 Mtoto (17/02/2004) x Zambezi, Sent to Auckland 16/05/2007 0.1 Imani (26/03/2007) x Zambezi Moesha mothered the following calves: 1.0 Kifaru (30/04/2009) x Kruger, Sent to National Zoo 06/04/2014 0.1 Jamila (06/03/2012) x Kruger, Sent to Auckland Zoo 27/11/2018 On 24/11/2004, 0.1 White Rhino arrived from Auckland: 0.1 Kito (26/06/2000) Kito mothered the following calves: 1.0 Ubuntu (12/03/2010) x Kruger, Sent to National Zoo 06/04/2014 1.0 Samburu (28/06/2016) x Kruger 0.1 Zahra (12/03/2020) x Kruger On 16/05/2007, 1.0 White Rhino arrived from Auckland: 1.0 Kruger (00/00/1989)
