Australasian Rhino Population

Jambo said:
considering Monarto's Black Rhino extension could still be a few years away.
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Monarto's extension is already mostly complete as far as I'm aware. They have constructed two exhibits with an introduction fence in-between the two. That's where both of their males (now only one) have been residing for the last 6 months. Bakhita could theoretically move in tomorrow. I assume Monarto is waiting until all the elephants all arrive before shipping her over
 
Jambo said:
This was planned to have been developed sooner but obviously the unexpected elephant construction has meant this project has been thrown on the back burner.

In the wild, some female Black Rhinos have stopped cycling in their late 20's, whilst others still cycled into their mid 30's (however with some pregnancy hiccups). Considering Bakhita's age (she'll be 23 in a few months time), it's probably preferable she breeds again sooner rather than later perhaps with Mpenzi again considering Monarto's Black Rhino extension could still be a few years away.
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Swanson02 said:
Monarto's extension is already mostly complete as far as I'm aware. They have constructed two exhibits with an introduction fence in-between the two. That's where both of their males (now only one) have been residing for the last 6 months. Bakhita could theoretically move in tomorrow. I assume Monarto is waiting until all the elephants all arrive before shipping her over
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Yes, it appears a lot of things have been put on the back-burner until the elephant complex is complete. It was a huge surprise to hear the complex was in the planning stages last year and appears to have been raised very last minute.

Thanks for letting us know it now almost complete though @Swanson02.

Age at reproduction is typically a maternal inherited trait i.e. cows are more likely to breed into their 30’s if their mother did. Of course, regular breeding dictates this too, with lengthy birth intervals running the risk of sterility. Since Bakhita is a first generation cow, there’s not sufficient data to make predictions on this - but given her impressive matriline, they’ll be excellent opportunity for future comparisons of her daughter’s and granddaughter’s reproductive performance.

I agree it’d be preferable to see her breed sooner rather than later.
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
0.1 Jamila the Southern White Rhino at Auckland gave birth to a male calf on Friday 13th. This is her third calf following two females: Auckland Zoo rhino Jamila delivers newborn in record time! | Auckland Zoo News
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Auckland Zoo’s first male Southern white rhino calf!

Milestones:

1980 - First acquired Southern white rhinoceros
2000 - First calf
2020 - Second calf (first conceived at zoo)
2022 - Third calf
2024 - Fourth calf (first male calf)

Calves:

0.1 Kito (2000) Wild x Mazithi
0.1 Nyah (2020) Zambezi x Jamila
0.1 Amali (2022) Zambezi x Jamila
1.0 Unnamed (2024) Zambezi x Jamila
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
Jamila and Zambezi are breeding like rabbits, 3 calves in 4 years is impressive!
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There was just 25 months between their first and second calves (Nyah and Amali); and 27 months between their second and third calves (Amali and the unnamed male). The closest gap between full term calves in a New Zealand zoo is 24 months (Inkosi and Mtoto, born to Caballe at Hamilton Zoo). Jamila is in her prime, so it’s natural to expect shorter birth intervals.

This calf is especially significant as he’s the only surviving male offspring of his sire to date. Zambezi sired three males at Hamilton Zoo (Inksoi, Mtoto and a stillborn/premature calf), none of which are alive today or have descendants. Along with his daughters, it’ll give the species coordinator a few options for next generation pairings.
 
Zoofan15 said:
There was just 25 months between their first and second calves (Nyah and Amali); and 27 months between their second and third calves (Amali and the unnamed male). The closest gap between full term calves in a New Zealand zoo is 24 months (Inkosi and Mtoto, born to Caballe at Hamilton Zoo). Jamila is in her prime, so it’s natural to expect shorter birth intervals.

This calf is especially significant as he’s the only surviving male offspring of his sire to date. Zambezi sired three males at Hamilton Zoo (Inksoi, Mtoto and a stillborn/premature calf), none of which are alive today or have descendants. Along with his daughters, it’ll give the species coordinator a few options for next generation pairings.
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And it was just 21 months from Jamila's arrival to Nyah's birth. I will just say that zoos with smaller crashes (i.e 1.1 or 1.2 adult White Rhinos) tend to struggle more when it comes to breeding, as in bigger crashes it is quite common for most if not all breeding females give birth, so it is great to see some massive success from a smaller crash. But yes, it is also definitely great to see a male calf from Zambezi, and hopefully he become a breeding bull one day.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
And it was just 21 months from Jamila's arrival to Nyah's birth. I will just say that zoos with smaller crashes (i.e 1.1 or 1.2 adult White Rhinos) tend to struggle more when it comes to breeding, as in bigger crashes it is quite common for most if not all breeding females give birth, so it is great to see some massive success from a smaller crash. But yes, it is also definitely great to see a male calf from Zambezi, and hopefully he become a breeding bull one day.
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I’ve noticed a similar trend:

Perth Zoo - 1.2 founders: One cow produced two calves in quick succession upon reaching maturity; the other never bred.

Hamilton Zoo: - 1.2 founders: One cow produced four calves in quick succession upon reaching maturity; the other never bred UNTIL the arrival of a new bull when she was in her mid-teens. This bull then sired calves to all three adult cows (a third cow was brought in as a juvenile).

Orana Wildlife Park - 2.2 founders: One cow bred for the first time in her mid-teens and then never bred again; the other cow never bred. Two more rhino were brought in (the non-breeding cow from Perth - see above; and a juvenile female). The juvenile female bred three times upon reaching maturity.

Altina Willdife Park - 1.2 founders: Neither cow (then adolescents) bred with the bull in the time they had prior to his passing.

Estrus suppression seems especially rife in 1.2 groupings.
 
An update on the Australian Rhino Project.

Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch unable to import (rhinos) animals following inquires by authorities.

The Australian Rhino Project Board this week has been advised that following inquires by the ZAA Australasia and the Ministry for Primary Industries New Zealand Orana Wildlife Park will not be allowed to import animals from overseas for at least six months!
 
Zorro said:
An update on the Australian Rhino Project.

Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch unable to import (rhinos) animals following inquires by authorities.

The Australian Rhino Project Board this week has been advised that following inquires by the ZAA Australasia and the Ministry for Primary Industries New Zealand Orana Wildlife Park will not be allowed to import animals from overseas for at least six months!
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That's a shame and really throws a spanner in the works. There isn't currently another zoo that has the facilities to conduct this import right now so it really all relies on Orana.

Hopefully this delay isn't for long and Orana is allowed to import again soon; it would be a huge shame if this project didn't eventuate.
 
Jambo said:
That's a shame and really throws a spanner in the works. There isn't currently another zoo that has the facilities to conduct this import right now so it really all relies on Orana.

Hopefully this delay isn't for long and Orana is allowed to import again soon; it would be a huge shame if this project didn't eventuate.
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Just my own point of view, I have had a bad feeling for quite some time about this project and would have loved to see it happen but I have strong doubts that it ever will at least in its current form!
 
Jambo said:
That's a shame and really throws a spanner in the works. There isn't currently another zoo that has the facilities to conduct this import right now so it really all relies on Orana.

Hopefully this delay isn't for long and Orana is allowed to import again soon; it would be a huge shame if this project didn't eventuate.
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I’m hoping it will ultimately be of little consequence as the six month ban covers the entirety of the summer months, which Orana have previously stated they wouldn’t import during.

I understand South Africa have been tightening up restrictions on exports, so it wouldn’t even surprise me to see the import modified further to see imports undertaken from Europe instead.

In the meantime, there’s at least been a number of births. Auckland have just welcomed their third calf in four years; and we can surely expect another calf from Werribee’s breeding cow. Dubbo’s breeding cow is now well and truly at the stage where she could have conceived a new calf to their new breeding bull.
 
Zorro said:
An update on the Australian Rhino Project.

Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch unable to import (rhinos) animals following inquires by authorities.

The Australian Rhino Project Board this week has been advised that following inquires by the ZAA Australasia and the Ministry for Primary Industries New Zealand Orana Wildlife Park will not be allowed to import animals from overseas for at least six months!
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Well at least it is only six months, I wonder what it was that they are/were in breach of.
 
Zorro said:
Just my own point of view, I have had a bad feeling for quite some time about this project and would have loved to see it happen but I have strong doubts that it ever will at least in its current form!
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Even its current form it is a far cry from the original plan. Realistically, unless they follow through with an original type plan, to house rhino essentially how they do it in the safari parks ie chuck a big group of them in a big paddock and let them sort it out. I doubt we'll see nor is there any real point to it. The zoo's will likely and realistically only import a few animals to widen the gene pool.

I very much doubt the zoos will change how they currently keep rhino. By the time they breed first generation calves our holding capacity will be exceeded.
 
Jambo said:
If you scroll though the Orana news thread or simply just search it up online you'll see why - it's not necessarily specifically related to their rhinos but more so the entire zoo in general.
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Thanks for the heads up, sticky situation for the zoo to be in.
I wonder if plans will be changed and we will see monarto or western plains take on the imports. Of memory didn't western plains do the quarantine for the last large rhino import.
 
Tiger91 said:
Thanks for the heads up, sticky situation for the zoo to be in.
I wonder if plans will be changed and we will see monarto or western plains take on the imports. Of memory didn't western plains do the quarantine for the last large rhino import.
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Western Plains and Monarto are the few zoos regionally who could accommodate an import. I know they planned to import 30 or so rhinos in two groups. So perhaps they could initially start with 30, 15 sent to Monarto and the others to Dubbo.

Monarto's new facilities with Wild Africa should be able to accommodate that number initially; before some are transferred out to other facilities regionally. It was designed roughly to receive that amount from Orana anyhow. Dubbo also have their extensive off display Black Rhino facilities from when they undertook their import in the 90's which could easily accommodate around 15 White Rhinos.
 

I would assess the following cows as the strongest candidates from within the region (assuming imports from outside the region aren’t planned):

Primary candidate:

0.1 Nyah (2020) Zambezi x Jamila - Auckland

Recently started cycling; zoo stated they have separated from sire to avoid putting her on contraception ahead of plans to transfer out. Nyah is related to all bulls in NZ, so appears she will be going to Australia soon.

Secondary candidates:

These cows are in breeding herds, but haven’t yet produced a calf:

0.1 Kibibi (2012) Satara x Uhura - Australia
0.1 Mango (2013) DJ x Inyeti - Altina
0.1 Tatu (2013) Imported (Germany) - Altina

Tatu (being imported) could well be the priority from these three.

Tertiary candidates:

0.1 Inyeti (2005) Thomas x Aluka - Australia
0.1 Imani (2007) Zambezi x Caballe - Hamilton
0.1 Savannah (2011) Kruger x Caballe - Monarto

Inyeti is a reproductive aged cow who has sufficient representation with Auatralia Zoo’s bull. Could be time to re-pair her?

Imani and Savannah have to date failed to breed in their current herds. Both are related to Nyah (who I would consider the prime candidate) and so there’s better options from the secondary candidates imo from a genetic standpoint. Imani is 18 years old this year, so export to Australia may be considered a little drastic for a last ditch attempt to breed from what may be a behavioural non-breeder anyway (she refuses to mate with Kruger).
 
Supposedly the new rhinos will be kept together, so I wonder whether they already are coming from the same facility.

I would be surprised if Altina sends both girls away, and I'm sure Australia isn't sending any of their girls away anytime soon. They're content with their small group as it is.
 
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