Importing South-central black rhinoceroses

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Nikola Chavkosk

Well-Known Member
What you think about some future captive breeding programme for South-central subspecies of Black rhinoceros, the most numerous subspecies, and that kept in Frankfurt zoo, as only place in Europe with such subspecies?

Also what subspecies are the black rhinoceroses in USA, are there South-central black rhinos? As I remember US holds good population of both Eastern and South-central black rhinoceroses? Or I am wrong. And how many individuals of each subspecies?

What if South Africa sell some 30 South-central black rhinoceroses to zoos, will they have the capacity to hold all of them; will that easily happen if the price of black rhinos drop as that of southern white rhinos (about 9,000 euros/per animal, aproximately)?

Why zoos instead to purchase only Southern white rhinos, whose number is above 250 in Europe, do not purchase some South-central black rhinos (and start managing population), or their export to zoos is banned?

I would love to work (keep them good in a zoo) with black rhinoceroses.
 
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Actualy know I read, from International studbook for Black rhinoceros (but from 2001), that there were:

- 201 Eastern black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis michaeli) world wide (Europe 72, USA 67, Asia 27, Australia 1, Africa (captivity) 33, Mexico 1)

- 71 South-central (Southern in the book) (Diceros bicornis minor) world wide (Europe 2, USA 42, Asia 6, Australia 11, Africa (captivity) 13)

Also it is recorded that Naples zoo in Italy holded 2 Eastern black rhinos in 2001, but now where are they gone?

The Australian Eastern black rhino, where it has gone? Anybody to know?


http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/126/1260101330.pdf


Then in 2008, the European population of Eastern black rhinoceroses grew to 77 individuals: http://eaza.portal.isis.org/activities/cp/yearbook20072008/36_Rhinoceros_TAG.pdf
 
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I was under the impression that the Australian population were Eastern ?
 
Nisha said:
I was under the impression that the Australian population were Eastern ?
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Me too, especially when Chlidonias informed us in the thread Exotic mammals in Australian zoos, that there were 10-11 black rhinos in Australia, I taught they are from Eastern subspecies. But in creating the Australian captive population, at least 4 males were imported from US, and apparently they were all from South-central subspecies of black rhinoceroses, or the situation has changed since 2001, and now they are all from Eastern subspecies, Chlidonias must know this?
 
There are both Eastern and South-central Black Rhinoceros in USA zoos but mostly Eastern as that's what most facilities are focusing on. How many individuals, I don't know.
 
Other members could give you more details but my understanding is the population is very heavy towards one sex (believe it's male) with very little of the other being born for some reason. As a result Fort Worth (who I believe imported the founders and holds the studbook for the population) has suspended the breeding program.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Other members could give you more details but my understanding is the population is very heavy towards one sex (believe it's male) with very little of the other being born for some reason. As a result Fort Worth (who I believe imported the founders and holds the studbook for the population) has suspended the breeding program.

~Thylo:cool:
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ThylacineAlive, actualy from the studbook from 2001, the sex rations are almost equal:

(world wide)
Eastern blacks 88.109
South-central blacks: 37.35 (males.females).

Also in Australia the sex ratio for South-central blacks is 5.6, and in USA, 22.20 .
 
Yes, however 2001 was 15 years ago, and that is plenty of time for many births to occur and skew the sex ratio, plus deaths of older animals.

Also to answer your earlier question, the main reason whites are being imported over blacks is because captive bred female whites tend to have issues producing calves, where as captive bred black females can generally reproduce with limited issues.
 
Hyak_II said:
Yes, however 2001 was 15 years ago, and that is plenty of time for many births to occur and skew the sex ratio, plus deaths of older animals.

Also to answer your earlier question, the main reason whites are being imported over blacks is because captive bred female whites tend to have issues producing calves, where as captive bred black females can generally reproduce with limited issues.
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Yes thank you for remindment.

Apparently diet rich on phytoestrogenes (like alfalfa (lucerne) and soy), and not coping with social groupings as in the wild for whites, are some of the reasons for failure of captive-born females to produce calfs.
 
Fort Worth also claims to own about 70% of the American black rhino population. I don't know about them ending the breeding programs, but I know Cincinatti has bred theirs and is hoping for a pregnancy.
 
jayjds2 said:
There's also this that may be of interest:
The Australian Rhino Project: one man's remarkable battle against savagery | smh.com.au
I don't know if it is limited to white rhinos, but I do not think that is the case.
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Yes they are limited to white rhinos for now, and they are planing to import 80 Southern white rhinos in Australia in the next 4 years, they already did some imports and this year is planned for 30 white rhinos who are coming in Australia via Monarto zoo; they are then planing to take on with the black too (certantly South-central subspecies).

Great conservational undertaking; they may try also with the Javan rhinos in Northern tropical Australia, as already there are bantengs there. Such projects should be tried with other species in different countries.
 
jayjds2 said:
Fort Worth also claims to own about 70% of the American black rhino population. I don't know about them ending the breeding programs, but I know Cincinatti has bred theirs and is hoping for a pregnancy.
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They've only suspended the South-Central breeding program (to my knowledge they have anyway), the AZA is still actively breeding Easterns.

Cincinnati keeps Eastern.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
They've only suspended the South-Central breeding program (to my knowledge they have anyway), the AZA is still actively breeding Easterns.

Cincinnati keeps Eastern.

~Thylo:cool:
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Oh, that makes a bit more sense. Sorry for misunderstanding :).
 
Nikola Chavkosk said:
Actualy know I read, from International studbook for Black rhinoceros (but from 2001), that there were:

- 201 Eastern black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis michaeli) world wide (Europe 70, USA 67, Asia 27, Australia 1, Africa (captivity) 33)

- 71 South-central (Southern in the book) (Diceros bicornis minor) world wide (Europe 2, USA 42, Asia 6, Australia 11, Africa (captivity) 13)
...

The Australian Eastern black rhino, where he has gone? Anybody to know?
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the current Australian population are all minor.

I just had a look at the studbook in Nikola's link, and surprisingly (to me) it does say that there was a male michaeli in Australia in 2001, born in 1980 at Cincinnati Zoo and imported to Western Plains from San Diego Wild Animal Park in 1994. This was one of the four males imported from the USA that year - I hadn't realised one was a michaeli.

This animal was named Mwaniki and was later sent to Port Lympne in the UK. He died in 2005 I think?

EDIT: The one which was kept at Perth (see the quote in Nikola's post below) was actually a minor. My mistake.
 
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Chlidonias said:
the current Australian population are all minor.

The lone michaeli was originally kept at Perth Zoo (she was the only black rhino ever kept at Perth and was imported in 1950 or 1951). She was sent to Taronga in 1981 and then to Western Plains in 1991. She died there in 1995.
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Thank you Chlidonias for the info ;)
 
ThylacineAlive said:
They've only suspended the South-Central breeding program (to my knowledge they have anyway), the AZA is still actively breeding Easterns.

Cincinnati keeps Eastern.

~Thylo:cool:
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Is that mean that South-central black rhinos is not managed any more? Are the AZA phasing out the subspecies? If yes that's a lost, because the population is in good demographic for future managing.

I think there are many zoos who wish to hold black rhinoceroses, including me and my eventual future zoo :p
 
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