I had talked with a couple of keepers at Howletts back in 1988 they told me that there were talks in regards to try and obtain some Javan rhinos. I have no idea how far that went. I really cant see any zoo obtaining them in the short or the long term. There has been an idea floating around about transferring some to another area and to form a new park but as far as I know has come to nothing to date, perhaps finding enough space in over crowded Java might be a problem?.
That's interesting thanks for sharing ! When Jurek mentioned it the Aspinall parks were one of the first zoos that came to mind. It seems like something they would have considered doing at that time period.
Yes I agree. I believe at that time they had the only Sumatran rhinos outside of Indonesia. The female which came with the male in the beginning was quite old and also was said to have had an injured leg due to a poachers snare and had passed away which had wasted time in the planned breeding program.
Yes Torgamba and Meranti right ? I tend to think that they would have had much more success with the Javan if they had managed to obtain some.
If you find the Website ACADEMIA explaines the The Sumatran Rhino Project, by Francesco Nardelli. Quite interesting!
Artis published an article about all their rhinos a couple of years ago. I still have it, so I will check what it states on the subject of the possible Javan rhino.
According to the first section of "Neushoorns in Artis", the first rhinoceros came in 1867 and at first it was known to be an Indian rhino, but later reports including a drawing by professor Schlegel states that is was a Javan rhino. It died on 21 March 1873. It was followed in 1896 by equally rare type of rhino, one from Borneo, probably the only one ever in the western world. The article stated that both the Javan and Bornean rhino were taxidermed and are still part of the collection of the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam (probably now at the Naturalis in Leiden).
The Bornean one? Very short: the young female rhino arrived on 1 June 1896 and died on 16 December 1896.
Fascinating image showing the Javan Rhino that use to be held at Adelaide: RRC: Javan Rhino in Adelaide Zoo
Wow, I've never seen that photo before. Probably the only existing photo of the last Javan Rhino in captivity.
It is a fascinating image of Adelaide Zoo's Javan rhinoceros but it's not the only photograph of that particular rhino; see link below for another one. RRC: Javan Rhino in Adelaide
International Zoo Yearbook volume 2 lists Javan Rhinoceros kept at Alipore, Calcutta, India female 1887-1892 from King of Oudh Calcutta, India May 1875, lived 24 hours King of Oudh, India female c1877-1887 sent to Alipore Batavia, Java 1851, 1875 The Soesoehoenan von Matram, Java many kept between 1648-1654 Surakarta Castle, Java female 1661 Bangkok Zoo, Thailand 1938 (unsubstantiated) Adelaide Zoo, Australia 12 Apri 1888-1907 Liverpool Zoo, England 1836. This specimen also travelled around England. London Zoo, england 7 March 1874-23 January 1885 Jamrach's Wild Animal Emporium, England female 7 March 1831-c September 1877 Karl Hagenbeck, Animal Dealer, Germany 1870s Venice Zoo, Italy (unconfirmed) Montgomery Menagerie, San Francisco, United States of America 1879 (may have been Montgomery Queen Circus)
