San Diego Zoo Safari Park Indian rhinos at SDWAP
- Thread starter MARK
- Start date
For those rhino fans on the forum the SDWAP have now listed 21 Indian rhinos kepted at the park with one male at the SD zoo, oh boy
The number sounds about right, however the 1 at the zoo recently moved to Kansas. Part of the whole elephant exhibit animal shuffle.
MARK
Well-Known Member
Since they only started with the two rhinos at the San Deigo zoo which never bred untill they were moved to the SDWAP they have done very well with them, they have resently imported three zoo bred males from Indian zoos, sending three females over there for a exchange, It has been interesting watching this herd grow over the years from such small beginings.
From the ISIS records it looks like "The Wilds" have 3 Males & 3 Females so they look like building a big breeding herd like the one in SDZ, hope so,
From the ISIS records it looks like "The Wilds" have 3 Males & 3 Females so they look like building a big breeding herd like the one in SDZ, hope so,
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The Indian rhino totals for San Diego Zoo+Animal Park must be treated with a certain degree of restraint. The bull at the Zoo was sent during 2007 to the Tangayika Wildlife Park in Kansas.
The breeding numbers at the Animal Park have not changed in a year. Despite the import of 3.0 bulls ex India and the ... number of realistically to be expected births. 13.8 thus does not reflect the true situation here.
The breeding numbers at the Animal Park have not changed in a year. Despite the import of 3.0 bulls ex India and the ... number of realistically to be expected births. 13.8 thus does not reflect the true situation here.
I think you're referring to the initial history of White Rhinos here. I beleive(but not 100% sure) that the Indian rhinos started out at the SWAP. Their first male was 'Lasai' bred at Basel, female(s) from India.
By rights, Whipsnade should potentially have bred as many if not more than San Diego, as they've been keeping them over an even longer period of time(50 years +) whereas in fact, the two recent calves there are only their 7th and 8th calves to be reared (provided they are) at Whipsnade.
Jaffna was sired by the new male after Lasai died. The sire was a new founder from Hyderabad Zoo (I think I posted this also in the European Indian rhino thread) and the dam had only a small contribution from the original Basel line (her father was in fact Lasai, her mother a Guwahati Zoo born female).
Patrick,
I did not mean .. the rhinos ex Indian zoos ... breeding
. I meant the entire set of rhinos not breeding in the year seems unbelievable to me. In any given year - whether or not the Wild Animal Park imports or exports individual rhinos - it will have 2 or more births. In a good year - like 2004 was - even 6 (allthough 2 of these ended in stillbirths or post partum deaths).
Patrick,
I did not mean .. the rhinos ex Indian zoos ... breeding
. I meant the entire set of rhinos not breeding in the year seems unbelievable to me. In any given year - whether or not the Wild Animal Park imports or exports individual rhinos - it will have 2 or more births. In a good year - like 2004 was - even 6 (allthough 2 of these ended in stillbirths or post partum deaths).jelle - oooooh i get ya.
i absolutely love indian rhinos. i love them like i love eating bacon after a big night out. i love them like i love clean bedsheets. i love them like i love girls in footless tights (okay so maybe thats a weird one, but hey, they look hot!).
anyhow. i love indian rhinos and thus was so disappointed when the female died at taronga. i'm hoping the SDWAP give sydney another, since i can't see them getting any form anyplace else.
i think they consider taronga/sandiego/westernplains/wild animal park "sister zoos" (no doubt a thankyou for all the koalas)
i absolutely love indian rhinos. i love them like i love eating bacon after a big night out. i love them like i love clean bedsheets. i love them like i love girls in footless tights (okay so maybe thats a weird one, but hey, they look hot!).
anyhow. i love indian rhinos and thus was so disappointed when the female died at taronga. i'm hoping the SDWAP give sydney another, since i can't see them getting any form anyplace else.
i think they consider taronga/sandiego/westernplains/wild animal park "sister zoos" (no doubt a thankyou for all the koalas)
MARK
Well-Known Member
I think you're referring to the initial history of White Rhinos here. I beleive(but not 100% sure) that the Indian rhinos started out at the SWAP. Their first male was 'Lasai' bred at Basel, female(s) from India.
The two Indian rhinos did start out being on exhibit at the San Deigo zoo, "the pair" were not getting along to well in the small exhibit, but after sending them both to the SD WAP the breeding program kicked off.
I think you're referring to the initial history of White Rhinos here. I beleive(but not 100% sure) that the Indian rhinos started out at the SWAP. Their first male was 'Lasai' bred at Basel, female(s) from India.
The two Indian rhinos did start out being on exhibit at the San Deigo zoo, "the pair" were not getting along to well in the small exhibit, but after sending them both to the SD WAP the breeding program kicked off.
I bow to your superior knowledge here... Its just as well they moved them. At Philadelphia and Milwaukee zoos they had Indian rhinos in small enclosures too and they ended up having to keep them permanently seperated as they became totally incompatable due to the small space. Sadly Milwaukee's pair were the very first two Indian rhinos born in captivity(Whipsnade & Basel) but they were never to breed.
... so do I..
I fell in love with them when I was about 7 years old- I used to feed Mohan and Mohini, the very first pair at Whipsnade Zoo.I think you've seen them wild? I've spent time in Kaziranga. Its fine being a tourist and seeing them from elephant back BUT if you go into the Park in a Jeep, they will chase you at high speed if they feel like it..they are not so lovely then, in fact, they become quite terrifying instead.....even years later I can still remember the noise they make as they start to get up speed with that pointed nose held high to catch your scent... a sort of sharp grunting- ughuuughhhughhhhh. It definately cooled my love affair for a while....
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First lines: You have us all drooling in no time ....
Plueeseee!!!!If I was the Species Coordinator here ... I would sent Dubbo all Europe's surplus overrep females ... no, kidding just the 1 and the other 2 could go back to Indian zoos to really move the breeding programme forward there. This in exchange for 1-2 very genetically valuable males from India (who are otherwise unrepresented outside India).
grant - yeah i saw them in from elephantback in the wild. the most monsterous male i have ever seen (iv'e seen a few other indian rhino in overseas zoos). he was massive, i dare say, substantially larger than any of the white rhino we have out at werribee. i have read conflicting comments on the world's "largest" rhino. it is generally said to be the white, sometimes they mention the indian and white as sharing the title. but this male was so big and fat (actually i have no confirmation it was a male, i just got that vibe. i saw it and thought "Ohhhh its a massive male" and never questioned it since. a pregnant female perhaps? males are bigger tho right?).
anyhow, in regards to getting "put off" you favorite animal. let me just say, i have been charged by more elephants than i care to imagine. it all started in india after seeing the rhino when i was chased by a baby elephant and slapped in the face by another. years later i was chased by a wild bull in sri lanka whilst in a jeep, then a few a pinewalla that developed an unhealthy fascination for me.
lastly the bornean pygmy elephants, on foot, in the jungle.
for years it put me off elephants, but i'm totally into it know. in fact i think i'm getting addicted to it. for this grown-up version of a dinosaur obsessed kid, maybe its the closest i'll ever get to a jurassic park moment.
i'm like keanu reeves in "point break", only instead of surfing and jumping outta planes
i like running away from 4 tons of big leathery mammoth.
anyhow, in regards to getting "put off" you favorite animal. let me just say, i have been charged by more elephants than i care to imagine. it all started in india after seeing the rhino when i was chased by a baby elephant and slapped in the face by another. years later i was chased by a wild bull in sri lanka whilst in a jeep, then a few a pinewalla that developed an unhealthy fascination for me.
lastly the bornean pygmy elephants, on foot, in the jungle.
for years it put me off elephants, but i'm totally into it know. in fact i think i'm getting addicted to it. for this grown-up version of a dinosaur obsessed kid, maybe its the closest i'll ever get to a jurassic park moment.
i'm like keanu reeves in "point break", only instead of surfing and jumping outta planes
i like running away from 4 tons of big leathery mammoth.
White is supposed to be the largest rhino- but Indian always looks the bigger to me. Indian is the tallest at the shoulder certainly.
The bad thing about being in a jeep being chased by rhino is you know the rhino can run faster, and the jeep may breakdown.. Even worse perhaps is being in a jeep on a track and a suspicious rhino with a small calf standing a hundred yards or so in front of you, when another appears out of the grass a similar distance behind you...
We only got chased a couple of times- usually in a chase they slow and veer off at the end , but sometimes they can overturn vehicles . By contrast, watching them on elephantback I felt perfectly safe.I haven't been charged by elephants. Saw some in Kaziranga, also a lot in Southern India where they were still being poached and harassed- consequently they were more nervous and aggressive. In one park we were surrounded by large herds of uneasy females and calves all squealing and trumpeting- the guide/guard on the jeep said it was 'time to get out of there'.....
... by contrast, I've been in a vehicle in an African National Park completely surrounded by a passing elephant herd- the nearest ones were feeling the bumpers,doors with their trunks as they passed by- not a hint of aggression or hostility- so calm and peaceful....
The only male ex India old enough to breed is Bhopo (b. 2000) ex Patna Zoo. Him becoming the new breeding male in San Diego WAP makes for important new genes entering the SSP gene pool in due course. First calves from him may be expected around early 2009 (if he was introduced pretty swiftly to the breeding cows which I expect he will have been).
I would also like to add a note that over the last thirty + years that San Diego has bred the Indian Rhinos, they have also only imported an additional 2.1 individuals that have contributed to their breeding program. All but one of the females are San Diego born and bred, making the San Diego bloodline very powerful and somewhat useless to the US population. Recently the SSP has taken measures to ship off some of San Diego's females to diversify San Diego's bloodline and a few of their males have been sent out as breeders. But most are considered surplus or low ranked.