Zoo Friends - ZooNooz June 05 - Success is a black-and-white affair

Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Rhinoceros Breeding Programs keep coming up with success after success. Both Black and White Rhinoceros calves were born early this year. MICHAELA LAUREN reports.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo's White Rhinos are keeping with the program - two calves were born in January. Amira, meaning 'princess', was born on 16 January 2005 to mother Intombi. Inyetti, or 'moonlight', was born on 25 January to mother Aluka. The father of both calves, Thomas, had sadly passed away of old age in December 2004 but his line is continued by the two valuable new females.

White Rhinos are not really white at all but usually light grey to dark yellow. They were misnamed from the Afrikaans word describing the mouth: weit, meaning 'wide'.

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Manager, William Garton, said, "Zoo staff are delighted that the legacy of Thomas will live on in Amira and Inyetti. The birth of these female calves is important to the conservation of the genetic diversity of rhinos in zoos. Thomas and the mothers were wild-born, and now the two new females can continue to pass on their genes."

Amira's mother developed a medical problem during pregnancy that made her occasionally stumble and lose her balance. To ensure the first-time mother would not fall on and injure the new baby, and to ease the mother's recovery, Amira is being hand-raised by staff in a controlled environment.

This involves bottle and bucket-feeding up to five times per day. Amira has also been given a special friend, Gertie the goat, as a companion, and has endeared herself to the zoo keepers by trailing after Gertie, even attempting to climb and leap.

Amira will be reintroduced to the rhino group over the next few months but will probably require bottle-feeding until about 12 months of age. White Rhinos are not really white at all but usually light grey to dark yellow. They were misnamed from the Afrikaans word describing the mouth: weit, meaning 'wide'. They are grazers, feeding on grasses that they crop with their wide front lip.

The Southern White Rhino is now considered endangered after having been on the brink of extinction in the past. International conservation, research and breeding programs have boosted numbers and they are now the most abundant species of rhino in the world.

The latest Black Rhino, born on 14 February 2005, also caused Taronga Western Plains Zoo to bustle with excitement. Born to mother Kalungwizi and father Kwanzaa, this male is the tenth Black Rhino calf born in 10 years to the Black Rhinoceros Conservation Program.

The conservation program, generously supported by the Australian Women's Weekly, was established in collaboration with the International Rhinoceros Foundation, the Government of Zimbabwe and complementary captive breeding programs in North America in 1993. A group of wild female Southern Black Rhinos arrived from Zimbabwe's Chete National Park this same year and four males came from zoological institutions in the United States a year later. It took three years of hard work before the birth of the first calf was announced in May 1996.

One of these youngsters, Bakhita, a three-year-old female, has quietly become a star, eagerly participating in the hand feeding and enrichment activities as a part of the popular behind-the-scenes Rhino Encounters.

Since then, 10 youngsters have been born, five of which still reside at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. These calves are significant contributors to preserving the diversity of the Southern Black Rhinoceros gene pool outside Africa. One of these youngsters, Bakhita, a three-year-old female, has quietly become a star, eagerly participating in the hand feeding and enrichment activities as a part of the popular behind-the-scenes Rhino Encounters.

Bakhita will eventually become a part of the zoo's breeding program. She will have her 'first date' in a few years' time and life sciences staff have faith that she will meet the high expectations set for her. "Bakhita will hopefully give birth to a second captive generation of these critically endangered animals," said Andrew Thorne, Manager of Life Sciences.

The breeding program has contributed significantly to knowledge of Black Rhinos in captivity and the wild. According to Andrew, the program has come a long way towards understanding the behaviour and breeding needs of the animals.

"Through the use of techniques such as ultrasound testing, faecal hormone monitoring for both cycling and pregnancy, and through behavioural observations, we are more informed than ever about the animals' reproductive aspects. This knowledge can be applied to both natural and assisted breeding in other rhino species as well," Andrew said.

The breeding program was taken to a new level in November 2004 when artificial insemination was attempted. It was a world-first effort aimed at overcoming infertility in a female named Chitundumusere, or Rocket. According to Dr Benn Bryant, Senior Veterinarian at WPZ, Rocket has failed to breed naturally in the last 10 years. "As one of only 275 of the endangered species held in zoos around the world and one of just 30 breeding females in the southern sub-species, that loss has been heavily felt," Benn said.

Zoo staff worked closely together with a team of German artificial insemination experts. But the results from November are yet to be confirmed. "If the insemination is successful and Rocket carries her first calf to term, there is every chance that she may develop the potential to breed naturally in the future," Benn added.

Information gained from the breeding program is shared globally and collaboration between different facilities has been excellent. Kusamona, one of the male Black Rhinos born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, is likely to become a father soon at Fossil Rim Wildlife Centre in Texas.

The zoo is now working towards the most ambitious plan of all - working with partner members of the International Rhinoceros Foundation to try to send Chikundo, from Taronga Western Plains Zoo, and four other Black Rhinos bred in North America back to the wild in Africa.

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