I have been going to the zoo ever since I was a child in the 1990s, and remember well the old Rhino house (now no longer accessible to the public) which is by the new entrance and used to have a solitary Indian rhino in the last section. After regularly visiting at least once a year my visits fell off and that area of the zoo was redeveloped - so Red Lechwe and Marmosets, and Bison were all moved or removed to make more space for the Tsavo development, which now takes up a decent-sized chunk of that part of the zoo. The old rhino house appears to still be in use, I saw three rhino outside it yesterday, another three in the new 'Tsavo' house, and one sat outside the off-show house at the back which I presume is used to acclimatise new arrivals/births? There also appear to be about three or four paddocks, some of which are linked underground etc and one of which has yet another small house in it, for the rhino to be outdoors in. So, I am asking you - the experts - what the current rhino set up is. Are there two separate groups in the Tsavo house and the old house which have to be kept separate for some reason? Is the big house at the back for acclimatisation or something else?
There are, I believe, a total of seven paddocks for Black Rhinoceros - three are entirely off-display, but can be seen from the roundabout leading into the car park of the Zoo. These are the outside enclosures for a large offshow house. A further three large paddocks are "fed" by the new house, and as you note are partially connected by underpasses etc. A final paddock is "fed" by the old house, which as you note is now off-display, and which also "feeds" the Warthog/Mongoose enclosure visible in the entrance plaza. The Black Rhinoceros at Chester Zoo are swapped around from paddock to paddock as required, variously for reasons of group harmony, breeding purposes, new arrivals, departures and so forth.
A further three large paddocks are "fed" by the new house, and as you note are partially connected by underpasses etc. Not entirely correct. The 'New' Tsavo house feeds two paddocks - one currently housing Kitani and the other with the underpass currently houses Zuri & Embu. The paddock with Magadi the male in which runs alongside the footpath approaching the new tsavo house is not actually connected to it - it has a separate house roughly behind Bembe. The Old rhino house currently houses Malindi with her calf Dakima and Chanua (Ema Elsa's grown calf). Obviously the rhinos are movable and this may no longer be totally correct animal wise. "Off show" currently are Kifaru (the male ex Hannover), Ema Elsa & Manyara - unless some have been moved on - which has been mooted!
karoocheetah is braver than I am. At the Chester walk-and-talks, Tim Rowlands always suggests that the black rhinos are moved around to keep ZooChatters confused, and it works with me Alan
Don't tell chester but I have secretly bar coded all of the rhino so I can keep an eye on them I love a challenge!
Dakima, Chanua & Malindi are now in the round house which already homes Zuri and Embu and Kitani is now in the old rhino house
