Sumatran Rhinos In Captivity

That is a very interesting article. I hadn't realised the female 'Puntung' had a missing foot... Some other interesting points/news also arise from this article;

1. Given the bad state of her uterus, it seems that this female will never be expected to breed normally, despite being quite young, but they hope to harvest embryos from her and somehow advance them some other way.

2. The subspecies distinction between the Malaysian/Sumatran/Bornean animals is now being dropped (or overlooked, depending on your viewpoint) to allow more flexibility between the holders of the tiny pool of captive animals.

3. At long last it is mentioned what is planned for the female 'Suci' at Cincinnati- AI using sperm from the Bornean male 'Tam'.
 
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3. At long last it is mentioned what is planned for the female 'Suci' at Cincinnati- AI using sperm from the Bornean male 'Tam'.

In the Cincinnati zoo thread, it was said that Ipuh would be bred with Suci just so Suci could be bred and more animals could be produced. I guess Ipuh (her father) will be her preliminary mate, but Tam would be later down the road?
 
The zoo is and has been working actively to breed Suci and Ipuh. At this point Suci is receiving ultrasounds several times a week in hopes of detecting a pregnancy. The biggest issue the zoo is facing at this point is Ipuh's age. Due to his age, an estimated 30-35, they've found that he tires quite easily. Now that it has been approved for the zoo to receive semen from Tam, I assume they will now try and switch focus to artificial insemination. Eventually Dr. Terri Roth and others at the zoo would like to obtain more rhinos to continue breeding in Cincinnati, but at this point in time AI will have to do.
 
The zoo is and has been working actively to breed Suci and Ipuh.

Thankyou for that update. (You'll see I deleted my previous post as being irrelevant in the light of this information.) Do you know how long they have been attempting to breed from them in this way?

I wish Cincinnati every success in getting her pregnant from one of these two options.
 
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The Asian Rhino Project have posted on facebook that Andalas and Ratu's calf is due towards the end of the month. Good to hear that all's going to plan.
 
Fantastic news. Have been hoping for an update on the calf and it's finally here. Hope everything goes well!
 
Blackduiker


A little note on the tape from the Cincinnati Zoo, Los Angeles has always been able to successfully keep them in captivity as well, we just haven't been given much of an opportunity to breed them here. Our specimens have always been sent to other locales to help in their breeding programs. Remember it was originally our female sent to Cincinnati that got the ball rolling there. Then after Los Angeles exhibited Andalas for a time, he was shipped off to Indonesia, leading to another success story. :cool:
 
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