In 1974 Prime Minister Edward Heath received a goodwill gift from the Chinese government, a couple of giant pandas: Chia Chia and Ching Ching. In return, the UK gave a pair of white rhinoceroses to China: 蒙勾 and 米卡斯. The female Micas passed away in 2012.
I used to think the current male is 蒙勾, but @Kifaru Bwana has said that according to the international studbook rhino, it's not.
I think that I'd be right in sating that this animal "Mungo" was the very first White Rhino born at Whipsnade, (and thus the first in the UK?) in 1971. Has he ever bred?
I think that I'd be right in sating that this animal "Mungo" was the very first White Rhino born at Whipsnade, (and thus the first in the UK?) in 1971. Has he ever bred?
I think that I'd be right in sating that this animal "Mungo" was the very first White Rhino born at Whipsnade, (and thus the first in the UK?) in 1971. Has he ever bred?
I love these little nuggets of information, so were the pandas a gift or an exchange?
At the time, surely the southern white rhino was as rare or even rarer than the giant panda.
Essentially they were a "thank you" gift from ZSL. I think that the Chinese may even have asked for White Rhino; I suspect that in 1974 they would have been reluctant to trade with South Africa for political reasons, and so the opportunity of a pair from the UK was eagerly embraced.
I can remember a piece about "Mungo" and "Nykasi"'s voyage to China in the XYZ magazine in 1974/75. Its arrival, once every four months, was one of the highlights of my year. Was that really forty years ago?
A little more information about these white rhinos:-
The ZSL Annual Report for 1974 describes the white rhinos “as part of the return gift for the giant pandas”.
According to this Annual Report, the male white rhino was one of the young males born in 1973, while the female was brought to Whipsnade, from Blackpool, on 5th November and the pair sent to Peking on 7th December.
Rookmaaker’s book “The Rhinoceros in Captivity” (1998) confirms that the male was born at Whipsnade on 21st January 1973 and the female born at Blackpool on 29th June 1973.
According to the international studbook rhino Mungo was transferred on 18/9/1999 to Jinan Safari Park. The studbook reports its death as 24/12/2001 ...
Supposedly, the current male rhino in Beijing Zoo was a male (named Kotarou and born in 1985 in Japan) that was captive-born in the Kyushu safari park in Japan and arrived in April 1997.
Perhaps, our esteemed local zoo afficionados can check whether the above is true or not …?
