My guess is it will be another large barn-like structure like the elephant and white rhino 'indoor' buildings. Both these have indoor public viewing. Neither has an indoor pool but the hippo house does and there they've managed to incorpoate indoor viewing too. The elephant and white rhino 'houses' are not terribly attractive but perfectly functional, so I'd be happy enough if the new Indian rhino quarters were similar...
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Indian Rhinos at Whipsnade.
- Thread starter Pertinax
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My guess is it will be another large barn-like structure like the elephant and white rhino 'indoor' buildings. Both these have indoor public viewing. Neither has an indoor pool but the hippo house does and there they've managed to incorpoate indoor viewing too. The elephant and white rhino 'houses' are not terribly attractive but perfectly functional, so I'd be happy enough if the new Indian rhino quarters were similar...
update on Whipsnade rhinos.
The Indian Rhino calf 'Asha'(female) is doing well. Already she's well grown and leaving the 'cute' stage.
The 2nd female is pregnant and due sometime in 2008. The bull 'Jaffna' is still there at present.
The new Indoor building is under construction and the basic structure is up. It is situated in the corner of the paddock close to the exit road from the ASian Plains drive-thru. It will have three seperate stalls with an indoor bathing pool in each. There will be a public viewing area in front the indoor pools. It is not a particularly large building. Completion- late 2007/early 2008?
The Indian Rhino calf 'Asha'(female) is doing well. Already she's well grown and leaving the 'cute' stage.
The 2nd female is pregnant and due sometime in 2008. The bull 'Jaffna' is still there at present.
The new Indoor building is under construction and the basic structure is up. It is situated in the corner of the paddock close to the exit road from the ASian Plains drive-thru. It will have three seperate stalls with an indoor bathing pool in each. There will be a public viewing area in front the indoor pools. It is not a particularly large building. Completion- late 2007/early 2008?
Yes, the Bongo are still there (nine animals now) I was told they are NOT returning to Regents Park, so our speculation about a future paddock for them at ZSL is meaningless.
The Arabian Oryx (from ZSL) are in the same antelope house as the Bongo(near White Rhinos)
The two old chimpanzees from ZSL still seem to be living alone.
Pygmy Hippos- seem not to be there now.
New Cheetah enclosure is being built (near Hippos)
If you have any other particular query, I will try and answer...
The Arabian Oryx (from ZSL) are in the same antelope house as the Bongo(near White Rhinos)
The two old chimpanzees from ZSL still seem to be living alone.
Pygmy Hippos- seem not to be there now.
New Cheetah enclosure is being built (near Hippos)
If you have any other particular query, I will try and answer...
MARK
Well-Known Member
The Indian Rhino calf 'Asha'(female) is doing well. Already she's well grown and leaving the 'cute' stage.
The 2nd female is pregnant and due sometime in 2008. The bull 'Jaffna' is still there at present.
I wonder if the LZS have thought about importing a new bull from an Indian zoo?
I don't know what their parentage/pedigrees are. Maybe Jelle can help us ?
Its also a case of which zoo doesn't have need of its bull while the females are pregnant or have a young calf. That's why Jaffna can return to Basel now.
I think the idea of an unrelated male from India is the best proposition. Or since the females at Whipsnade came from Nepal, get one from there?
kiang,
The bull at Schoenbrunn Zoo, Wien is probably fairly unrealistic. He and his prospective mate are both hand-reared individuals wildcaught in Chitwan, Nepal. The zoo management there hope to pair them up later on.
The Hellabrun male Nikolaus is only realistic if and when the Muechen Zoo succeed in acquiring a totally unrelated bull from outside. Their bull is of the Stuttgart line and indirectly a Basel genetic line animal.
The bull at Schoenbrunn Zoo, Wien is probably fairly unrealistic. He and his prospective mate are both hand-reared individuals wildcaught in Chitwan, Nepal. The zoo management there hope to pair them up later on.
The Hellabrun male Nikolaus is only realistic if and when the Muechen Zoo succeed in acquiring a totally unrelated bull from outside. Their bull is of the Stuttgart line and indirectly a Basel genetic line animal.
Jelle- what do you think about the Nepal animals being mixed with the Indian animals in the zoo population(such as at Whipsnade now) Do you think it matters or should a seperate line have been set up?
Writhedhornbill
Well-Known Member
At a Guess I'd say edinburgh. Thy have two males.
An old question I only just picked up on. I am sorry for not noticing earlier
!I personally do not see any argumentative line to keep Nepali and Assamese (that's what Indian one horneds are) Rhinoceros unicornis separate. I do not believe nor have I ever seen a taxonomic or genetic distinction between the 2 populations.
I more or less see the Nepali and Assamese Rhinoceros as a continuous population that has become "islandised" by recent human encroachment upon their prime habitat. F.i. it is a case in point that every year the Assamese rhinos leave Kaziranga to higher ground outside the protected areas. In Nepal they still have access to higher ground terai habitat, so no immediate need to migrate elsewhere.
In Kaziranga this leaves them vulnerable to poaching and I strongly believe - despite recent population increases in Kaziranga - that protection on the Indian side is actually lax and suboptimal (indicative to the current crisis in India's conservation management are the complete failure of Project Tiger and the lacklustre attitude of Junagadh State towards longterm Asiatic lion management).
In Kaziranga this year alone between 14-16 known cases of rhino poaching have occurred. Surely that is a bad sign right in the middle of the much hyped launch of Rhino Vision 2020.
Mark,
I also sincerely hope that the EEP India rhino coordinator will look towards the Indian subcontinent for a spare bull. The current stock there is heavily skewed towards the males and perhaps Basel can offload 1 or 2 over-represented females to the Indian programme.
That would truly help setting up a global species conservation programme. I really think the Indian rhino is suitable for that as all regional programmes struggle with matching up unrelated pair situations.
1. Nor have I. Somewhere I heard a suggestion that Kaziranga animals are bigger/taller. However, I have a photo of two Whipsnade females(the old cow Roopa-= 'Indian' and one of the younger ones ='Nepalese') and they're identical in body shape...
2. Some do leave the sanctuary but many stay and sit out the monsoon by behaving even more like hippos than normal!
Each year in between 5-15 rhinos drown in Kaziranga as they cannot reach safe ground in time. It is both a matter of too little suitable habitat and the high density of rhino. Though the Indians like to submerge, they certainly do not like to flood and flee these seasonal fluctuations if they can. Another drama is the number of calves that become separated from their mothers - either they make it and are rescued or simply go into oblivion.
The bottom line is that whether we like it or not Kaziranga on its own is way too small. For the rhino population to be safe their habitats need to become interconnected with large corridors that are equally well protected. That state of affairs has no where near been reached in Kaziranga yet.
The bottom line is that whether we like it or not Kaziranga on its own is way too small. For the rhino population to be safe their habitats need to become interconnected with large corridors that are equally well protected. That state of affairs has no where near been reached in Kaziranga yet.