Some interesting rhino news, The Budapest zoo have bred the Worlds first rhino (Black rhino) using AI, A baby girl was born last Tuesday evening, for more news on the story see, SOS Rhino news page.
That's a real break through. It means it may be possible in future to inseminate females from males in other zoos without having to relocate/transport them- always a very expensive exercise and also rather stressful for the animals too. Port Lympne in UK just announced another Black Rhino birth- this brings the herd back up to twenty again,they claim its the largest number in captivity. They also sent two females back to a reserve in Africa a couple of years back and they have been breeding too...
I think that someone was saying on the forum not long ago that some Indian rhino bulls have not been used for breeding in some zoos because they are to agressive and there fore some bloodlines have not been used in the captive breeding program, So this could really help out in using these other males.
First AI rhino birth at Budapest Mark, The rhino AI success is with a southern white rhino. Thankfully the offspring is a female, a rare treat in the EEP white rhino programme. The really really good thing about this is that non-breeding rhino females can now be inseminated without the costly transfers of bulls and also opens up the way to breeding in non-breeding groups. Mostly, the non breeding as is also the case in Budapest is between captive-bred animals that have developped a brother sister sibling relationship. Somehow this precludes the breeding of white rhinos in these zoos. Perhaps it is a natural response in wild rhino too inhibitting closely related animals to breed. In captive conditions mostly zoos bring together very young rhinos in the hope of breeding and this policy may inadvertently actually decrease the likelihood of the rhinos breeding at all. As for the argument with aggressive rhinos, I attribute that to inadequate housing conditions. Rhino love making is a steamy hot and often violent affair and animals simply need a big space in which to breed successfully. The female is usually resentful at first and likely to run off even when she is in season. She simply needs time to get acquantained to her suitor. And she actually tests the suitor's amorous intentions before eventual matings take place. Perhaps any of you folks have some more info on the subject in Oz as breeding of white rhinos is quite successfull lately ............!!!
Mark- yes it was me who mentioned the problem of aggressive male Indian rhinos, its definately a known fact and I think that AI is already being considered by some zoos with Indian rhinos to overcome the genetic imbalance this problem has already created. Jelle- I was very interested in what you say about sibling relationships developing in zoo-bred White rhinos. I've heard that many 2nd generation White rhino females have not bred, though the reason isn't clear. Do you think this 'platonic sibling' relationship is to blame? As far as aggression is concerned, yes, Rhinos do NEED to be aggressive when mating- lots of chasing, jousting etc as a prequel to mating. But problems do arise particularly in City Zoos with limited paddock space, where the bull can't let off steam, and the aggression becomes redirected and more damaging and thats where AI could perhaps help. Also, sometimes a pair of rhinos simply aren't compatable and if no other partner is available, then again the AI factor could help solve the problem.
As far as i know the exact reason why isn't yet known, there are a few theory's that are plausible but the sibling relationship-theory seems very likely. Other possible reasons mentioned are the fact that they need more then one male, or (and) a group of other females to reproduce (institutions that do well with rhino's usually have both these conditions). Personally, i would say that in order to care for white rhino's decently, an institution should provide with all of the above. A decent size group of females, with rotating males, in a large enclosure. And young females should be swapped between institutions if possible.
This has opened an interesting new door on rhino breeding, I feel that in time as this is refined it will have big gains for rhinos just as it has with the Giant Panda breeding program did after all the reserch that was poured into it which really paided off.
Jwer. So it sounds as if the problems in the 2nd generation may be very similar to why zoos found it difficult to breed the White Rhino in the first place. i.e. being group animals they need stimulus from others to promote breeding and perhaps 'stranger' bulls added to the groups from time to time. Its certainly been proved many times over that herds or groups work for this species, whereas pairs usually(but not always) don't. Mark- again AI might help Whites too, where translocations of animals aren't feasible or to save expense.
I don't know much more then i've read on the net for the last several years, but if it were me i wouldn't put my money on anything yet. The most prolific breeding institutions in Europe for white rhino's are Whipsnade first, and Safari Park Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands second. But as far as i know, Edinburgh are also amongst the top 5. I mention this because Edinburgh is so high up just because of 1 pair of rhino's that lived just together and did very well (13 young in a row if i'm correct). I also know that Beekse Bergen is so high up because of 1 female rhino that had 15 young up to date. Now Beekse Bergen and Whipsnade both have a large paddock, a (very) big herd and multiple males (both 2, if i'm correct). But it could very well be that their high numbers of young animals can all be explained by one or two female rhinos doing very well, just like Edinburgh. In which case it's logical that an institution that has many females also has that one female that does well, and thus ends up high on the list. This could have nothing to do with the conditions in the institutions but just luck due to numbers. But perhaps there's a lot more information out there that i'm not aware of (most probably). Anyways, it's a fascinating topic about some of the most fascinating animals in the world. Hopefully A.I. will help increase numbers in zoo's because "just" buying more rhino's in South-Afrika does not seem to be the long term solution everyone is hoping for...
white rhino at weribee australian zoos have been succesfully breeding the white rhino for many decades now, starting in the 1980s at western plains. however, our rhino population was geting rather small and stagnant in terms of breeding success, so a syndicate of australian and new zealand zoos pooled together their resources several years ago and imported a number of wild-born white rhino into the region. the rhinos went to orana (?) and auckland (?), western plains, weribee and monarto. perth zoo also imported two females independently to join their male. the arrival of new herd mates stimulated breeding activity at both weribee and westenr plains, both zoos had maintained pairs of white rhino previously with no breeding. it would appear that a herd environment is one key to breeding this species, although obviously zoos like edinburgh and even perth, who have only one adult bull, seem to buck this trend.
But in order to prove that keeping white rhino's in a herd really stimulates breeding you will have to prove that a larger percentage of females kept in a herd reproduce. As far as i know, the percentages of females that reproduce in a herd could very well be as high as the percentage of females that reproduce in pair-kept situations... Same goes for having one or two males around... If one out of eight female rhino's reproduce, then statistically every park that holds eight females will have at least one that reproduces, and of the park that keep them as pairs, only one out of eight parks will reproduce... In which case 100% of the parks that hold them in large herds have young, but only 12,5% of the parks that hold them in pairs. Which could lead to the conclusion that holding them in herds would be better for reproduction, but in fact is just as good...
Jwer. Yes, the concept of one or two successful females producing a lot of the calves is an interesting one.The Edinburgh pair I think had eleven calves- in total-very unusual for a pair to breed like that and in quite a small enclosure too, but I think the female originated from Whipsnade's herd, and was pregnant when sent to Edinburgh- which might have had something to do with this pair then continuing to breed... Just to update you- Edinburgh don't have White Rhinos anymore- the old pair died off and have been replaced with Indian Rhinos. I don't know why(cost of maintaining them?) but some years ago Whipsnade cut down their big herd of White Rhinos drastically- there are now only about seven in total.(1 male,3/4 cows, 2-3 calves) Glyn- the Australian region seems to have been increasingly successful with Whites too- moving the animals around and sometimes adding extra individuals seems definately to have stimulated more breeding.
White rhino in Hamilton Hamiltons white rhino has shown good potential in breeding , even though there arent that many male rhinos suitable for mating with ....
patrick didnt weribee import a young male white rhino from the netherlands a few years before the main import from south africa? im 99% sure this occurred, no doubt to try and shift the dynamics of the herd and stimulate breeding.
not that i know of... before the import i thought they just had the original ex whipsnade pair. but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
i thought lekwazi was born at western plains zoo, one of the first white rhinos to be born in australia? im not sure where leroy came from. the 3rd amle i think was named Kepamba???
Hey Glyn, Likwezi was born at Dubbo in 1985, the fourth white rhino to be born there. He was moved to Werribee in 1989. Werribee's original pair came from Whipsnade in 1980, followed by a male from Emmen in the Netherlands in 1996, and then the big shipment came in from South Africa in 1999. I haven't heard of Leroy or Kepamba.
ok, well im going from two sources, neither first hand but hopefully enough to jog someones memory. source A-Zoos Company-the episode on Weribee follows Leroy and Likwezi lack of breeding success. By the way, i though Likwezi was female, as Leroy definitely had the penis in this episode. Source B-Australian Geographic, 1998-Peter Stroud 'so in an effort to get the group dynamics right we just imported a 20 month old male Kepamba from the Netherlands at a cost of $20, 000'. he was featured in an article on zoos breeding endangered species and was talking about socialisation in white rhinos.
Hey Glyn, a couple of typos have caused the confusion. Likwezi is definitely female - I meant to write 'she' not 'he'. And there's a Kapamba (with an a), but I was searching for a Kepamba (with an e) yesterday. So Werribee has five males: Swazi, Kapamba, Umgana, Lee and Ganini. I'm betting that Lee = Leroy. I think that solves the mysterious "missing" rhinos
