Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
Two Black Rhinos at Dubbo are pregnant and are due at the end of the year!
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Australasian Rhino Population
- Thread starter WhistlingKite24
- Start date
Further details. The two South-central Black Rhinos that are pregnant are 0.1 Bahkita (b. 2002) pregnant with her fifth calf and 0.1 Mesi (b. 2017) with her first calf. Sire is 1.0 Mpenzi (b. 2005) so a bit of inbreeding occurring that hopefully can be outcrossed in subsequent generations - reported on social media.
1.0 Southern White Rhino calf has been born to 1.0 Kifaru (b. 2009 at Hamilton) and 0.1 Kipenzi (b. 2013 at Werribee) at Werribee Open Range Zoo. This is their second calf following the death of their first calf in 2023. This calf was born on 18th August: Melbourne zoo welcomes rare southern white rhino calf to the world
1.0 South-central Black Rhino calf has been born to first-time mother 0.1 Mesi (b. 2017 at Dubbo) and 1.0 Mpenzi (b. 2005 at Dubbo). This marks the fifth generation for Dubbo's black rhinos - reported on social media.
As reported in the news thread - 0.1 Jamila (b. 2012 at Hamilton) the Southern White Rhino at Auckland is pregnant with her third calf. Sire is of course 1.0 Zambezi (b. 1992 at Kruger NP): Join us in celebrating World Rhino Day and a rhino pregnancy! | Auckland Zoo News
She was due back in July.
While its probably the most likely scenario, they can have a 15 to 17ish month gestation of memory. So its theoretically possible if july was month 15 she is going for the long game and is very late preganacy or has had it and they haven't announced it yet. They took a month to anounce the last calf. Time is ticking if we dont hear of anything in the next few weeks, bets on she lost it.
No, Bakhita lost the calf. This was mentioned in the link @jay posted above and has also been posted/discussed at length in the Dubbo news thread:
New arrival in time for World Rhino Day
Taronga Western Plains Zoo had been expecting the birth of two rhino calves this year, however Black Rhino Bakhita sadly gave birth to a stillborn calf. Bakhita has been closely monitored to ensure her wellbeing and recovery and is doing well.
Oh right, yeah i hadn't seen/read that. That's a shame it would have been nice to have had the two of them.
Only twice prior to this year have Taronga Western Plains Zoo had more than one Black rhinoceros calf born in a year:
In March 2000, Peppe Kalle gave birth to a male calf named Chikundo. A second male calf was born to Utahwedande in April 2000 and named Jabari, but he died the same month he was born. A third cow delivered a stillborn calf that year.
In April 2017, Kufara gave birth to a female calf named Mesi. Her mother Bakhita gave birth to a male calf named Pampoen in October 2017.
Having two calves born close to together is exciting, though since they’re not a social species, the mothers wouldn’t be exhibited together with their calves.
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
The calf has been named "Jabulani" and has just made his public debut.
Meet Jabulani - Zoo unveils baby rhino
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
The regions 10,000th Jabulani
1.0 Sentwali (b. 2004 at Dubbo) a South-central Black Rhino has been transferred from Monarto to Dubbo for breeding purposes, providing a better genetic match for breeding as his underrepresented dam Dongajuma is directly from the wilds of Zimbabwe and his sire Siabuwa is wild-born as well coming via the United States. This leaves Monarto with a single male Induna - reported on social media.
Interesting move. I can't help but wonder if, now Bakhita's calf has been stillborn, she will be transferred to Monarto to breed with Induna, as they are the only unrelated potential pair in the region. Induna and Chikundo (I believe Chikundo is now deceased) are the only descendants of their mother as well, so it would be good to breed from him too.
That said, the announcement of Sentwali's transfer says he'll be introduced to proven breeding females plural, which would imply Bakhita is staying at TWPZ, with the intention of breeding both her and her daughter Kufara (whose last calf was born in 2023) with Sentwali.
Yes, Dubbo has three proven breeding females and Mesi has recently given birth, so that leaves Bakhita and Kufara:
0.1 Bahkita (2002)
0.1 Kufara (2010)
0.1 Mesi (2017)
I don’t know what Dubbo’s capacity is; but they’ve welcomed a number of calves in recent years and have just acquired a new breeding bull. I wonder if an option would be to transfer Bakhita (once pregnant) to Monarto Safari Park to deliver her calf; who could then breed Bakhita to Induna in 4-5 years. If the calf was female, it too could be paired with Induna once mature.
Dubbo have long functioned as the breeding hub and their expertise is regionally second to none; but managing a breeding pair is Monarto’s long term aspiration according to their masterplan. Starting with the region’s most successful breeding cow as one half of that pair would surely stand them in the best stead.
Osedax
Well-Known Member
They have 31 off-display Black Rhino yards, with some being able to accommodate two or three individuals! Not sure how much barn space there is though.