Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Sumatran rhino move.

Thanks Jay for sharing the Email. Its similar to what they said on their website but with more detail- I believe its from Teri Roth who is the vet in charge of the rhinos and very willing to share knowledge... she replied to me too.

Unfortunately from this it sounds like they won't be enlarging the exhibit for quite some time- I had thought it would be imminent. They say it will give them access to mud- surely they have some sort of mud wallow already?(but not indoors...)

It sounds as if Bina at Way Kambas will now definately stay where she is.(makes better sense with Andalas arriving there). I have always been of the opinion they want to hold on to Suci in Cincinnati as a 2nd breeding female.

Feddi/Mark. Regarding 'Subur' the Copenhagen female. As you know for many years she was the only Sumatran rhino anywhere in captivity- I always wanted to go and see her but never did.

I think the deal was that three zoos- Copenhagen, Basle + one other would each have a pair of animals and later set up breeding exchanges. Unfortunately a number of females were captured, but no males. So each of the three zoos involved received a female, with the males to follow later, except that never happened. The females at Basle and the other zoo soon died (Basle's after a couple of years) but 'Subur' thrived to live a long lonely life. There are plenty of pictures of her as she was famous in her time.

 

this species is looking royally screwed. thats not to say we can't try and fix things but there is no point holding animals in america if it is at the expense of the facility in indonesia. quite simply because indonesia is the only place where there is the possibility of aquiring much-needed additional founders. and when/if that happens we have to be able to jump on the opportunity to utilise them immediately. i'm guessing the long delays in translocation are becuase there are years of paperwork involved in importing/exporting th eloaned rhino from one country to another.

by all means cincinatti should continue to breed and keep its pair, but i just think that right now we should aim to have a decent population in one place. that = the maximun (yet still pretty minimal) amount of options and flexibility achievable with such a small group of animals.

(sorry i'm repeating myself arn't i?)

however we definately need another unrelated male if this torgamba (sp?) isn't gonna breed.

whats his deal anyway. what are his health problems?

 

Going out on a scarey limb here, I wouldn't be suprised if the sumatran rhino becomes the next large mammal to become extinct. Though the javan has fewer numbers, at least they are a sustainable population in a well protected area. Let's hope that a combined breeding program plus greater protection will save them.

 

australian zoos should be doing more in-situ, build facilities, purchase land, to relocate rhinos to new parks, from parks were they are few and afr between

set up a park for elephants, orangs, tigers, everything, a place for 'controlled' wild breeding, yet a place for research and releaseing our own aniamls

 

Andalas arrives safely at Way Kambas:
Full article here: Born in US, Sumatran Rhino arrives home

 

Patrick- I disagree that this species 'is being screwed'.... I think you'll find that sending Andalas back to Sumatra was an almost unique & major step in co-operation between the american zoos(cincinnati & L.A.) involved.
I think keeping the younger female Suci in America is a safer option as she isn't old enough to breed yet. With possibly two breeding females in the future, they could just make a real difference now. Also the only captive male which isn't related to her at present is Torgamba- the older male at Way Kambas whom Andalas is being brought in to replace. He has Kidney problems I believe.

What happened at Sungai Dusun where all the seven rhinos died so rapidly is to fresh for me to feel happy about another rhino leaving Cincinnati at present.. I think Cincinnati's expertise has been fundamental to possibly averting extinction for this species and they deserve to be able to extend their programme if possible. Perhaps the logical thing is for Emi's next calf(male) to eventually be exchanged for an unrelated one?

Good to know that Andalas has arrived safely at Way Kambas. There's a lot riding on him...

 

Plenty of news around now about Andalas's safe arrival at Way Kambas Sanctuary- mostly from the same one or two articles though. Interestingly he had a course of inoculations while still in USA to protect him from tick borne parasitic diseases which, coming from abroad he would have no immunity to. He will be quarantined for 30-60 days (depends which report you read), and inspected daily for any sign of tick bites etc that could lead to illness, even being hosed down after mud baths in order to inspect his skin..

They don't expect to introduce him to the females for up to a year yet. This is certainly a risky and time consuming operation.

 

There are now some good photos (just type in 'Andalas Sumatran Rhino'); 1. his crate just unloaded from the aircraft at Jakarta 2. him backing out of the crate at Way Kambas and 3. having his first mudbath...

Good Luck Andalas!

 

But what about Javan Rhinos? Why aren't groups of them scattered in zoos that are experienced at breeding Indian rhinos. Then their population will increase.

 

None have been exported- at least in the last fifty years and the population in Java is so small maybe they can't risk capturing any. As you said, they should be ok in zoos if kept on the line of the G.I. Rhino. I heard a rumour that Port Lympne were negotiating for this very species(Javan)

 

That would be brilliant. They might have to be off show though. I'm not sure they may be quite nervous around people.

 

Yes, I'm sure they'd be very nervous to start with, as they never see people in Udjong Kulon. However, newly captured Indian rhinos tame down very quickly, so I'd expect similar from such a close relative.

 

What zoos have captured Indian rhinos? I thought zoos had stopped that now.

 

I was referring to the founder animals captured in Assam for zoos like Whipsnade, Basle etc in the 1950's/1960's. These soon became tame and would feed from the hand even before being exported from India. Whipsnade's original male Mohan later became so tame he would allow invited guests to ride on his back...

Very few Indian rhinos are captured wild nowadays. London received two females from Nepal about ten years ago- I think they were wild caught. They are now at Whipsnade and one had a calf this year.

 

Is there any up dates on how the new calf is doing?.

 

Have a look on the ZSL website and click on Whipsnade. It has lots of Updates.

 

Yes, but they don't update something like the rhino calf on a regular basis. You'll need someone who has visited for a proper update, but my guess is she is doing well. I saw photos of her taken in March... growing fast.

 

I've never been to Whipsnade. Is it nice.

 

Much bigger than Chester- vast area, but nothing like as many species as Chester, nor the quality of buildings/exhibits either. Mostly open range species which London doesn't have the space for.

 

London zoo seems cramped