The babirusas in Copenhagen Zoo had actually bred many times in this house before we lost our last females.
The house was originally built to house two elephants during the winter. Later it would come to house Subur the sumatran rhino and and recent years it was home to babirusas and malayan tapirs. It was demolished a few years ago to prevent it from collapsing on its own.
I will assume that there were larger doors on it when it was to house these elephants.
So Subur the Sumatran Rhino was kept here? I have no words, this is a precious piece of knowledge nugget, even if I realise that everything would have looked different back then. I believe Subur died in 1972. I have the history book from 1984 and 20 different guidebook editions so it should be easy for me to see how it was.
It did not look that different in the time of Subur from what it must have looked when you saw it in 2002. Subur lived in the other side of the house where the malayan tapirs had their indoor exhibits and still have their outdoor exhibits today. The outdoor exhibits have chanced a bit (denser foliage and some of the fencing replaced) but the house is essentially the same is in Subur's days.
