I think I would have a different opinion of the project if we were talking about a species with a shorter generation time and in which the reproductive science was more reliable, where a greater number of offspring could be produced in a quicker amount of time. It is just hard for me to swallow the millions of dollars being poured into a project to bring back an animal that will likely never not be functionally extinct or returned to the wild when that same money would make real waves of impact for the conservation of animals that still have a fighting chance. Unfortunately, we do not live in a world where we can right all of our wrongs, but surely it is our duty to invest in where we can right the most wrongs, and I don’t think the Northern White Rhino Project is that.
The SDZSP is notoriously tight-lipped about pretty much everything that goes on at the Park (the Zoo is only just a little bit more transparent!), so I am not surprised they have moved these rhinos out en masse without any sort of announcement or acknowledgement. I have no idea where the rhinos might have gone — we might have to wait for the receiving institutions to announce them upon arrival.
From what I understand, the remaining rhinos from this cohort are 1.0 “Neville” and 0.2 “Victoria” and “Wallis” . I imagine “Neville” will also eventually ship, while the females might be incorporated into the herd in the East Africa field exhibit.
