Southern black rhino - IRF program

K

Kifaru Bwana

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I accidentally stumbled upon the 2019 Annual Review of C2S2 and the review of the southern black rhino program.

El Coyote Ranch in Texas had a female calf born in 2019. White Oak produced their first calf - a male that sadly succumbed a few months after birth, from their new young breeding pair.

El Coyote Ranch also had another female rhino pregnant and expecting in the new year 2020.

Source: https://conservationcenters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/C2S2_2019AnnualReport_web.pdf
 
BTW: Taronga Zoo - Dubbo Western Plains is also part and parcel of this program!

There seems to be an interesting cooperation developing between Australia's and US participants in the southern black rhino program and the Kingdom of Eswatini. It is said a transfer between Western Plains and the Kingdom of Eswatini is on the cards for 2020.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I accidentally stumbled upon the 2019 Annual Review of C2S2 and the review of the southern black rhino program.

El Coyote Ranch in Texas had a female calf born in 2019. White Oak produced their first calf - a male that sadly succumbed a few months after birth, from their new young breeding pair.

El Coyote Ranch also had another female rhino pregnant and expecting in the new year 2020.

Source: https://conservationcenters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/C2S2_2019AnnualReport_web.pdf
Click to expand...
Do you know more about El Coyote. All I found online is a ranch that breeds Longhorns.
 
How many Australian zoos are apart of this program? Are Disney and Fort Worth no longer breeding this subspecies?

~Thylo
 
drill said:
Do you know more about El Coyote. All I found online is a ranch that breeds Longhorns.
Click to expand...
Yes, correct.

Just the owner has been a long supporter of the black rhino program / IRF for southern subspecies. Has held the subspecies since early importation and till date has had the most breeding success (apart from Fort Worth or Milwaukee) in the US.

There are according to the website 18 participants (past/present???) in the program.

Past holders in US might included (all the data below are from 2013 no later):
Abilene Zoological Gardens (2.0, CB Fort Worth Uhuru CB 2001 - El Coyote Macho Jr. CB 2004), Austin Natural Science Center (2.0 CB White Oak - Dallas), Chehaw Wild Animal Park (2.0 CB El Coyote), Disney AK (3.1 CB McAllen - El Coyote and their 2.0 offspring born at Disney AK), El Coyote (2.5, 1.2 old Zimbabwe imports and their 01 1989 calf + 0.2 born 1998, 200 and a CB male from Milwaukee), Fort Worth (1.2, CB San Diego Zoo, McAllen + El Coyote M Limpopo, FF Mtoto and Salsa), Fossil Rim (1.2 0.1 WB Zimbabwe Coco, M/F breeding pair Kusamona x Mupani), Milwaukee (1.1 WB Zimbabwe BrewsterxChirundu/Mimi) and White Oak (3.2, Chirundu/Lee, Tom C (CB White Oak), F Pombe, F/M Onyx and Micky).

Puebla, Mexico have a CB Fort Worth male Muke.

Australia is in with the WPZ in Dubbo (5.5) and Monarto (2.0) as well as in Europe - Frankfurt Zoo with elderly F Tsororo (WB Zimbabwe).

Mind all: the above figures are seriously out of date and quite a few individuals have changed hands since or are no more. I have not followed the US IRF southern black rhino program that closely, but what I do know is listed below:

CURRENT:
Milwaukee: 0.0.
M Brewster was euthanised 19/3/2016 and F Mimi has recently passed away 23/4/2020.
Fort Worth: 2.1
F Mtoto (WB 1989, probably to old to breed now), M Travis (22) and 6-year old Crockett.
Fossil Rim: 1.3
F Coco (has had 4 calves till date), F Salsa (24, who previously resided at Fort Worth since 2012), F Mupani (21) and new male Uhuru (unproven - 2015, CB Fort Worth and previously resided at Abilene).
White Oak: 2.1?
old male Lee/Chirundu with a new breeding pair (TysonxLittle Bit) imported in 2014 from South Africa. First calf in 2019, unfortunately passed away several months later. Has potential!

El Coyote: 1.2.1++?
Abilene: 1.0?
Chehaw: 1.0?
Disney AK: ???
 
I believe it was mentioned on Monarto zoos FB page they want to import one female!
 
Disney AK has probably gone out of southern black rhino. Their breeding pair M Travis and F Kit was transferred in June 2013 to Tanganyika Safari Park. Unfortunately, it seems F Kit died at the facility and M Travis was retransferred to Fort Worth Zoo. I do not know the date of death for F Kit, nor when male Travis arrived at FWZ. If anyone has any further info, please post here!

It is highly probable that both MM offspring born to this were have also been transferred. Once more any further info is well appreciated.

EDIT: In a news item from this August it seems M Badru remains at Disney AK for now.
Source: 'Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom' Will Take Viewers Behind-the-Scenes of Disney's Animal Experiences

A science paper from 2017-2018 acknowledged Disney AK held 2.1 black rhino.
Source: https://nagonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Sullivan-Abstract-NAG-2017-Lab-Comparisons7.18.pdf
 
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According to a friend who is at the zoo as I type this, Tanganyika still has one South-Central Black Rhinoceros.

~Thylo
 
Wait so there are multiple black rhinoceros ssp. in the U.S.? D. b. michaeli and D. b. minor?
 
Does anyone know what happened to the 4th southern black rhino at Fort Worth? I believe they had 4 when they opened their African Savanna exhibit in 2018.
 
gabryatfendor said:
Yes, you are right. It should be male Dubya
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He was transferred from Chehaw to Tanganyika in 2019. Probably a replacement for the breeding pair they lost earlier (with the F Kit unfortunately passing and the M Travis transferred to Fort Worth).


@BlackRhino, which 4th individual at Fort Worth are you actually thinking of?


BTW: I believe Africam's Muke is White Oak's youngest male calf Mickey (born 28/2/2000).
 
EDIT (the above):
Muke is the female born in 2005 at Fort Worth. She was transferred to Puebla in June 2010. The unidentified male was transferred in February 2013.

Also, in 2013 Zoologico de Leon received male Buster from El Coyote ranch in Texas. Unfortunately, he died there rather tragically in early March 2017.
 
Anyone does know which southern black rhino individuals remain at Disney Animal Kingdom.

I expect the 6 year old Crockett to be a new calf born in 2014 at El Coyote Ranch. I cannot figure out any other zoo that would have managed breeding the species after so long a time frame without any births (no Fort Worth, no Milwaukee nor Fossil Rim, I believe ...)
 
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