At Cincinnati Zoo, Emi, the breeding female Sumatran Rhino, is due to give birth to her third calf this week... Watch this space. At Way Kambas, the Sumatran rhino 'breeding centre' in Sumatra, there are worries that if no breeding happens soon, funding for the Centre could dry up as no calf has been born there since it opened in 1995. Several very recent press reports tell how all hopes now rest with Andalas, the 5 year old male from Cincinnati who arrived there in February. Despite a rather coy and wordy report about mating issues in this species, there is no mention he has even been introduced to a female yet (he almost certainly hasn't) so this part is really a story about nothing.... The International Rhino Foundation don't seem to update their Rhino News with any regularity. Considering the high lewvel of conservation interest in current developments at Way Kambas, I find that a bit odd...
I would estimate Andalas still too young to be mated with any of the females there, but perhaps nearing the end of the year he could be introduced to Rosa or Ratu... I also found the lack of information disappointing but i did find out that the one that does most of the updating on the website, or at least write the reports (A dutchman named N. van Strien) seems to be back in Holland for a while. I think he'll go back soon and then the news from the field will be resumed, i hope... Meanwhile fingers crossed for Emi's third calf, a sh*** moment for the rhino-cam to be down
I think the intention is not to introduce Andalas to either female for some months to come anyway and this story was really just to provide some sort of update. It did say Andalas wasn't fully recovered from his epic journey yet though. I think N. Van Strein was the source of the statement about him/them possibly being the last hope for Way Kambas as a captive centre, as there's a real danger the funds will dry up if no positive results occur soon. Emi's next calf is known to be male I believe. I wondered if the webcam had been closed deliberately over her birth period?
The ICams had been downed for maintenance purposes but hasn't been up since, the cincy-zoo press release says they are having trouble getting it back up... The last pregnancy the webcam was shut down about 1 hour before birth and was put back online about 5-10 hours after...
My guess is that they will leave it closed down until after she has safely given birth again... We've been told not to switch topics so freely but I heard recently that the Apenheul Gorilla females and Jambo are all together through the daytime and they seem to be bonding with him, also he's venturing further onto the island now so things are looking up there.
How is Andalas doing? I saw him in 2004 and he seemed to be doing well. He was on his own though at LA zoo. I think Cincinnati is the only zoo in the U.S to hold them now andalas has gone and the old bronz female has died. What happened to her?
Andalas- see above for most recent comment. Rapunzel(Bronx) presumably died of old age associated problems. Currently Cincinnati has only Sumatran Rhinos (1.2) outside of Sumatra- there could be another birth there this week.
I get why shew as called rapunzel. Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your long hair. Sumatran rhinos have long hair. That's a clever name.
Getting a bit anxious wayting for news from Cincinnati. Trying to avoid catastrophic thinking... Well guess they don´t put info on their webside on weekends? Her due date was last Thursday, I think, i.e. 475 days... Fingers crossed...
thats a shameless attempt to engage in an entirely unrelated topic with not even a hint of relevance to sumtran rhinos...are you TRYING to push my buttons grant??????!!!!
No, no, no,- it was a one- off bit of info -for Jwer who knows about the Apenheul Gorillas and I didn't want to start a fresh thread just for a little bit of news- not a discussion... So back to ONLY Sumatran Rhino on this thread.....but nothing to report yet on Emi's imminent birth.
She's given Birth!!!!!! well that's what it said on the RSS News reed. She had a sucessful birth. It's a boy. Check it out.
Yep, Emi's new calf was actually born Sunday night apparently, and it is another male- but they knew that all along from the Ultrasound... Its fascinating to wonder what the situation with the Sumatran rhinos will be(better or worse?) by the time this calf hopefully reaches maturity in a few years time. Like his elder brother Andalas, there's no future for him currently in the USA- but that might change in time, who knows? Still, its great news.
Yes, they should bring another 2 pairs to the US. One to Cincinnati as they have done so well before and one to Sandiego wild animal park as they are just the best rhino breeders in the world.
nah i disagree bird boy, there is afr more value in in-situ conservation with these 2 rhinos species (that is sumatrans and rhino) by all means lets not put all eggs i9n 1 basket, but concentrate in the south asian region, the 100 000's spent on importintg can be saved to buy land, or to pay rangers for patrols, though in saying all this, maybe some fresh blood to the us will be needed if un-succesful breeding is encountered, even then screw the usa, take to far north qld, in a more natural forest home, and not a zoo situation!
sumatran rhino filmed in borneo.... oh and just in case none of you have already seen this...... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070424-rhino-video.html
I don't think the wild population of Sumatran rhino can afford to lose any more pairs being sent to Zoos for breeding projects. However, Cincinnati are the one exception to this rule, as they've proved now. To make Cincinati's population viable, they do really need TWO more individuals,(soon) a new younger male for Suci (and also for Emi too when Ipuh dies), and(later) a young female for this newborn male(if he is to stay in USA) But even with the new accomodation they are building for this species, there will be a maximum number of animals they can hold and until that's known, its difficult to see what the future holds for them in USA.
