Heres the link to the story Zoo's beloved blind rhino loses battle - 03 Jul 2007 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news Auckland zoos original whito rhino bull Mandhla had to be put down because of a neurological disease. He suffered a prolapsed penis and was unable to urinate. Mandhla was first diagnosed a year ago and had gone partially blind.
Hey, Were they ever able to breed with Mandhla? I used to watch the Zoo (when it was on PayTV in Australia) and I know they had three females...two imported and the mother in calf when she was imported. Also, do they still have the other male, Kruger? When I visited the zoo in April, the rhinos were off display! Thanks, Rayles
Kruger is now at Hamilton zoo where hopefully he will become a breeding bull there. Auckland now has three male rhinos, a father and two sons, from Hamilton. As for Mandhla having had a calf I'm not quite sure. Two of Aucklands females were poisoned a couple of years ago and another was sent to Hamilton. I;m not sure if one of the females that died was Mandhlas calf or the one that was born at Auckland but conceived elsewhere.
From what I remember from various news articles, Mzithi and Mbili were mother and daughter and came as a package from Kenya along with Kruger (also no relation to either of the girls). They were not related to any of the Australasian rhinos hence it was a huge loss as they lost a new blood line when they died. Mzithi was also pregnant when she arrived and it's her baby Kito who has gone to Hamilton. She's about 5 or 6 I think and is quite a character judging from The Zoo series. Kruger has also been moved to Hamilton in the hope he will breed. Fortunately Kito is a valuable breeding female as she is new blood. Clothcat
It is school holidays in NZ now , so I asked Abi if the rhino had bred . Unfortunately it hadnt sired any baby rhinos . I hope that the new group of rhinos will do better
the new group are a batchelor heard so i dont think there will be any babie rhinos at auckland slo dose anyone have more info on th death of the 2 rhinos
SOS Rhino If you mean Mzithi and Mbili's deaths there's an article about it if you follow the link above. Mandhla was old and blind! Clothcat
Yes Kito, the daughter Mzithi was pregnant with when she came to Auckland, is now at Hamilton Zoo. She is was eight in June and is now trying to be bred with Kruger the eighteen year old bull also from Auckland Zoo. In 1999 Auckland Zoo received three rhinos from Kruger National Park: Kruger, Mzithi and daughter Mbili. In 1999 Hamilton Zoo received three rhinos from Kruger National Park: Zambezi, Caballe and Mwisha. Since coming to New Zealand Mzithi gave birth to daughter Kito and Zambezi and Caballe had three calves: Inkosi, Mtoto and Imani. This site has some great info: Hamilton City Council & Hamilton, New Zealand - Hamilton City Council