I am starting this thread to post all news relating to rhinos in US Zoos. I am curious to know what people think the dominant species in US Zoos are? It seems most zoos prefer to exhibit white rhinos because they are easy to manage. As a huge fan of the black rhino I dislike this, and I hope zoos that currently exhibit black rhinos do not phase them out in favor of white rhinos. It seems there are even fewer zoos with Indian rhinos. I know the Dallas Zoo just shipped out there last black rhino as they are replacing the Large Mammal Building with a picnic area. On the flip side Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is opening a new exhibit featuring black rhinos which seems to be very rare to open a new exhibit with black rhinos. Bronx Zoo recently brought in two young white rhinos who seem to be quite popular. Does anyone know how many Indian rhinos they have and if they are still breeding them? Would like to hear everyone's thoughts.
Im proud to say im glad to see black rhinos at my hometown zoo pittsburgh!!!!!!!!! plus we just had a baby girl born in september
Birmingham held Black Rhino Ricko when he was a teenager. He even lived on smartstrand carpet for a month. We now have a trio of whites. New edition Max along with Laptop and Ajabu a mother daughter pair.
I have had the pleasure of working with 4 of the 5 species. Currently(September 2012) there were 53 Indians in the North American population and at least 2 calves have been born that I am aware of since September.In 1982 there were only 20 in NA in 7 zoos and only 3 of those zoos had bred them. The captive population has grown as have the number of facilities and several animals have been sent out of the US population. There are 92 AZA facilities that have rhinos with white rhinos being the highest number of specimens. 2 subspecies of blacks are currently kept and at best 60 specimens in total. Whites certainly outnumber the rest and can still be imported from South Africa if needed. It would be nice to see the black rhino population increase. At the Los Angeles Zoo we kept 1.2 of each subspecies together on a daily basis and they reproduced without too many problems.
The Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines recently recieved a pair of Black Rhinos that have a new exhibit that is nearly complete as part of Phase 1 of thier African renovations. Might be on display this spring, not sure though.
What's the situation with D. b. minor and D. b. michaeli in North America? Is there a 'favoured' subspecies or are both to be maintained? I've only seen minor once, on my only visit to the sole European holder (Frankfurt), but with Chester as my 'home' zoo I've seen more than my fair share of michaeli!
I've seen white rhinos more often than blacks. Diseney's Animal Kingdom had the first black rhinos I'd seen in quite some time. It wasn't until this summer that I saw Indian rhinos for the first time at the Henry Doorly Zoo.
If I remember correctly DAK has both species. The white rhinos are in a small savanna with bontebok and ostriches. The black rhinos are in a enclosure by themselves near the middle of the ride.
Yes, DAK has blacks in a lagoon/beach/forest kind of enclosure with waterfowl. Of course the whites are still in Savanna East with oryx, bontebok, ostrich, and warthogs.
The Blacks at DAK are minor, some of the last left in the US (most of the rest of the minor are in Texas).
No way! Luckily I have family in Orlando so it's only so long until I end up down there. What zoos in Texas have minor? ~Thylo
I may just be stating the obvious here, but is D.b.minor being phased out of AZA collections? As I've noticed that the once esteemed breeding herd at Fossil rim has not produced a calf in quite sometime. what makes D.b.michaeli more favorable? It's lower wild population and the possibility for global collaboration in a breeding program? Or just a higher captive population to begin with?
