Hey! Swedish zoos started mixing different asian and african hoofstock on large savannas in the early 60s, and have had white rhinos mixed with both african and asian elephants (+ antilopes, buffalos, birds, giraffes etc.). Now is my question if any zoos have had any luck with mixing asian elephants with indian rhinos? And possibly more species? (I have no experience with this rhino species since it's not kept in Sweden.)
Indian rhinos are aggressive. By mixing them with elephants you result in trampled calves of both species and puncture wounds from tusks & horns...
Well I can think of a few examples of other species, just not elephants. Chester keep a pair with brow-antlered deer and black buck. West Midlands Safari Park allow theirs in to the large Asian reserve with a variety of other hoofstock. I've seen a photo of them mixed with takin in the gallery and I'm sure they're also kept with muntjac and otters elsewhere.
@Kwambeze, I do think it is a question of space. WSMP - West Midlands have a rhino area and a much more extensive Asian hoof stock exhibit around it. I am sure if a situation would exist with say Boras Zoo and the white rhino and cheetah species co-existing, that space and acres of it would make it something of a do-able reality. True, the GOH rhinos are aggressive by nature - so are black rhinos - but a zoo like Ree Park in Ebeltoft has demonstrated that black rhinos and hoof stock can work … again if acres and acres of space is available to them. I know that Denver Zoo has introduced a concept of revolving exhibits between Malayan tapir, Indian rhino and Asiatic elephant.
A note on Indian rhino behavior - they rarely use their horns in aggression, preferring to bite with large incisors and canine teeth.
The San Diego Safari Park has their Indian rhinos in a large mixed species exhibit with gaur, black buck, nilgai, and other species (not sure what the current mix is as the exhibit has been effectively off display since the monorail was removed). The exhibit is huge - several tens of acres, so everybody has room to escape and keep away from each other.
No it won't, but it hopefully will help change misconceptions of how animals actually behave. Which in my opinion, is very important.
Perhaps best described as a semi-success. Their male black rhino was bullied by zebras in its early life. When introduced to the big savanna he was already quite large, but coming from a zoo where kept in an enclusures without other animals, initially he didn't quite understand that he had the size to easily put himself in respect to the zebras. As soon as he realized this, the zebras stopped bothering him. However, about a year ago, a zebra suddenly started giving birth in the middle of the savanna next to the rhino. Apparently confused by the unusual situation in addition to his earlier issues with zebras, he attacked and killed it. In the years they've been kept there, this single and perhaps rather unusual (but also serious) incident is the only that has occurred.
@condor, thanks for elaborating on that incident. From distant memory I seem to remember that event. All the examples of coexistence in larger habitats concerns one pachyderm species and hoof stock, not 2 pachyderm species. I doubt if space requirements and behavior-wise both species to be fully comfortable in one exhibit. If at all it would have to be huge … (and that is quite unrealistic to expect in most if any zoo environments).
The San diego safari park has Indian rhinos in the Asian plains exhibit exhibited with other hoofstock but it seems like they kind of stay away from each other
The Buffalo Zoo mixes their Asian one horned rhinos with Axis deer and Indian peafowl. I have seen the young female rhino trying to chew on the feathers of the peacock.
I think there might be a major difference between mixing Asian Rhino with any of the species above- which largely works- and with Elephants which could be less successful. The rhinos and Elephants are both dominant species that, at least in the more confined spaces of captivity, might well challenge each other, resulting in injuries, which is not the case with most of the other species mentioned here.
Not Indian Rhinos but Birmingham (Alabama) their final stage of Trails involves the mixing of 4 Bull African Elephants, 3 White Rhinos (1 male 2 female), 5 Reticulated Giraffe, 6 Zebra, 3 Ostrich, a Grant's Gazelle, a Male Hippo, and some more larger hoofstock (Impala, Oryx) that they plan to acquire in the next few months. All of the animals have their own holding areas but will mix on the main 4.5 acre paddock which is the normal home for the Elephants.
