What should a Rhinoceros habitat look like?

jayjds2

jayjds2

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
A little of background history about me: I've been going to zoos since I turned one year old. My first zoo was Smithsonian's National Zoo, where my mom took me to see the pandas. I have visited many of USA's finest zoos, but not all. Some that are widely said to be good, that I have visited, are: Saint Louis Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo, Disneys Animal Kingdom (been a while), and a lot of others that are well known but not in the top 10 or so. I have noticed that a lot of the rhinoceros habitats seem to be lacking, and some are getting old and may be getting redone soon. This thread can be a discussion for current and upcoming rhino habitats, or what you would like to be one. However, it should focus on Southern White, Eastern Black, and Greater One Horned rhinos, as they are the most common. I wouldn't mind seeing discussion about Sumatran either, but since they are not represented in public zoos, that shouldn't be priority. I didn't like Cincinatti's Sumatran rhino habitat anyways. :P
Black rhinos are not all that common in the USA, and as I haven't ever left this country, I haven't seen too many of their habitats. To me, the most pleasing were those of the San Francisco Zoo and the Saint Louis Zoo. Saint Louis has a long habitat, but it is not lacking on width. It is mostly dirt, but is not void of plants. There is grass in some areas, and the habitat is shared with sacred ibis.
The San Francisco Zoo's black rhinoceros habitat is smaller, and rounded. There are areas for both water and mud. It is low on plant life. However, the slight elevation changes and rocks provided enrichment for the very energetic rhinoceros that I saw.
Southern White Rhino:
The only habitat for these creatures that I liked a significant amount more than the others was at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It is a large, hilly habitat that is mixed species, uncommon with rhinos. The crash of rhinos is also quite large. The rhinos have many acres to roam.
Indian/Greater One Horned Rhino:
Nothing sticks out here. An idea habitat from my imagination would be very lush (preferably geographically accurate foliage) and not long and skinny like most are.
Feel free to contribute any contenders for best of whatever species habitat, photos, and the like. If nobody replies and this becomes a forgotten thread, then so be it.
 
.... mixed species, uncommon with rhinos.
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White's are actually kept in large savanna enclosures with other species (gazelles, giraffe, zebras and alike) lots of places. Mainly safari parks but a number of "ordinary" zoos too. It might be that you've mainly visited places where they don't. Mixes with black are much rarer but do exist. It's a temperament thing: White's usually don't cause problems, black's are a hit-and-miss if mixed. Indian (greater one horned) aren't mixed too often either. They're typically between white and black in terms of aggressiveness.

Anyhow, zoos should preferably try to replicate the natural habitat. White's in relatively open savanna-like habitats, which isn't too hard to replicate. Black's aren't as calm and do prefer a more "closed" habitat (some trees or structures where they can hide). I do know many places with Indian don't have it but they should preferably have access to pool. Unlike the two African, Indian like to spend much time wallowing.

Almost entirely limited to exhibits in the US but still worth checking: http://www.zoochat.com/22/best-rhino-exhibits-413421/
 
Leipzig Zoo's Kiwara Kopje is an exhibit that you might be interested in.

It has Black Rhinos mixed with Cheetahs and Patas Monkeys.
 
You have to consider that the habitats of the different rhino species give them somewhat different requirements. White rhino are grazers, so large areas of grassland are appropriate. Black rhino are browsers from scrub and parkland savannahs (called Guinea savannahs in West Africa) so access to some trees, protected from too much browsing, is a good idea. Indian rhinos live in wetter, marshy habitats and like to spend time in water: in temperate climates heated pools are required in cold weather.
I doubt if we will see more Javan or Sumatran rhinos in zoos outside their natural range in the foreseeable future - but they are forest species and should be housed accordingly.

Alan
 
One of the best mixed-exhibit enclosures for a rhinoceros taxon which I have been fortunate enough to see is the Africambo exhibit at Zoo Magdeburg, as described by myself in my walkthrough thread elsewhere on Zoochat:

TeaLovingDave said:
The majority of the interior was devoted to a large indoor paddock for Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli), which at the time we were in the house was not in use. It comprised two large sandy areas, with a bare rocky passage connecting the two. A large spur extended out between the two, containing a large amount of vegetation including a number of small trees - where this spur met the joining passage, there were a row of depressions on the ground where dividing poles would be able to be erected in order to separate animals, were this necessary. Between the public path and the rhinoceros enclosure, there were rock walls and a number of thickly-planted plant beds, further adding to the overall high-quality feel of the house as a whole.

.....

Immediately outside the rhinoceros house, a bridge over one of the streams running through the zoo led to the colobus walkthrough enclosure, which also comprised part of the external enclosure for the Eastern Black Rhinoceros. The enclosure had a number of trees for the colobus to climb, along with a large amount of rockwork and felled trees on the ground - some of which was carefully placed and designed to hide the presence of a ha-ha dividing the walkthrough enclosure from the portion of the paddock accessible to the rhinoceros whilst still permitting the colobus to cross from the rhinoceros enclosure to the walkthrough and visa-versa. We were able to get excellent views of the colobus, as one individual in particular was rather fond of sitting on the fence at the side of the public footpath; the keeper who was stationed in the walkthrough enclosure had to make this individual move away from us on a number of occasions. As this was one of the species which represented a major incentive for visiting Magdeburg, we were very pleased to be able to watch this unusual and attractive species at some length.

After exiting the walkthrough enclosure, the path took us around to a point where we could view the second of the exterior enclosures for the rhinoceros; this one being a large grassy paddock containing a small amount of rockwork and a number of relatively young trees, and which contained the Eastern Black Rhinoceros, along with groups of both Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) and Blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi), both of which are species which although present in UK collections are still somewhat unusual and always worth further attention in my opinion. The enclosure seemed to work rather well for all three species held, with the animals mixing freely and without any visible problems in their interactions - furthermore, it was a very pleasant looking enclosure overall, and one which kept to the high standards which the collection had demonstrated thus far.
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However, in my eyes the undisputed best exhibit for Black Rhinoceros is the complex of paddocks for the taxon at Chester Zoo - multiple large enclosures and houses, with half of these being off-display to the public, covering what I estimate to comprise about 20% of the (pre-Islands) public footplan of the zoo.
 
Thanks for all the input. These are all great suggestions and/or exhibits. As for the white rhino habitat at SDWAP, I liked the space and amount of species. However, i didn't like that it didn't look much like a savanna. The bright green grass and palm trees were a bit offsetting.
 
That bright green grass is actually African grass that they imported just for that exhibit.
 
temp said:
Anyhow, zoos should preferably try to replicate the natural habitat. White's in relatively open savanna-like habitats, which isn't too hard to replicate.
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Replicating is one thing, maintaining is quite another.
All rhinos are very hard on their exhibits. A too large exhibit can often accommodate the damage but then the animal is often far from the visitors. A modest sized enclosure where visitors can get a better look will be trashed by the animals very quickly.
This is not as easy a goal to accomplish in the real world as you might think.
 
jayjds2 said:
Thanks for all the input. These are all great suggestions and/or exhibits. As for the white rhino habitat at SDWAP, I liked the space and amount of species. However, i didn't like that it didn't look much like a savanna. The bright green grass and palm trees were a bit offsetting.
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Savannas have bright green grass except at the worst part of the dry season.
 
Although it may not have the correct geographical foliage, the North Carolina Zoo has an excellent, huge savanna for their white rhinos. I saw them resting underneath the trees when I visited the zoo. For a smaller zoo, I've always enjoyed the African watering home exhibit at the Maryland Zoo. The two white rhinos are exhibited with zebra and female ostriches, all seem to get along well.

I found my ranking for rhino exhibits that I have seen in person:


1. North Carolina Zoo (White)
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom (White)
3. Cincinnati Zoo (Sumatran, Indian, Black)
4. Maryland Zoo (White)
5. Buffalo Zoo (Indian)
6. Lowry Park Zoo (White)
7. Toronto Zoo (White)
8. Brookfield Zoo
9. Lincoln Park Zoo (Black)
10. Virginia Zoo (White)
11. Erie Zoo (White)
12. Pittsburgh Zoo (Black)
13. Cleveland Zoo (Black)
14. Philadelphia Zoo (White)
15. Columbus Zoo (Black)
16. Metro Richmond Zoo (White)
17. Louisville Zoo (White)
18. Seneca Park Zoo (White)
 
blospz said:
Although it may not have the correct geographical foliage, the North Carolina Zoo has an excellent, huge savanna for their white rhinos. I saw them resting underneath the trees when I visited the zoo. For a smaller zoo, I've always enjoyed the African watering home exhibit at the Maryland Zoo. The two white rhinos are exhibited with zebra and female ostriches, all seem to get along well.

I found my ranking for rhino exhibits that I have seen in person:


1. North Carolina Zoo (White)
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom (White)
3. Cincinnati Zoo (Sumatran, Indian, Black)
4. Maryland Zoo (White)
5. Buffalo Zoo (Indian)
6. Lowry Park Zoo (White)
7. Toronto Zoo (White)
8. Brookfield Zoo
9. Lincoln Park Zoo (Black)
10. Virginia Zoo (White)
11. Erie Zoo (White)
12. Pittsburgh Zoo (Black)
13. Cleveland Zoo (Black)
14. Philadelphia Zoo (White)
15. Columbus Zoo (Black)
16. Metro Richmond Zoo (White)
17. Louisville Zoo (White)
18. Seneca Park Zoo (White)
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While I've only been to 8 of those, I mostly agree. It's been ages since I went to Maryland, so I barely remember it because I was a young child. I remember Virginia Zoo's as being nice and shaded. Animal Kingdom's exhibits are nice.
 
Zooplantman said:
Replicating is one thing, maintaining is quite another.
All rhinos are very hard on their exhibits. A too large exhibit can often accommodate the damage but then the animal is often far from the visitors. A modest sized enclosure where visitors can get a better look will be trashed by the animals very quickly.
This is not as easy a goal to accomplish in the real world as you might think.
Click to expand...

I know. I was simply stating what it preferably should be and that isn't impossible. After all, the question was about the best. There are safari parks that do it just fine, but all essentially through plenty of space. That obviously limits most "normal" zoos with their typical space restrictions and savanna exhibits that often end up as a barren patch. Rotation and plenty of water helps, but few zoos are willing to do that today (money and ethics of using that much water). Cold weather is another restriction on grass and all zoos in regions with cold winters have to deal with savannas that periodically are virtually grass-less. Nothing they can do about that.

"African savanna" covers a fairly wide range of habitats. My sister lived in South Africa and consequently I've visited quite a number of times at all times of the year. Kruger and surroundings (still) house decent number of white+black and the main grassy parts are perhaps green/yellowish 50/50 of the year. The inland South African "savanna" (bordering the karoo) that used to have white is even drier, but those regions are only home to small, scattered reintroduced populations today. In contrast, the black that live in savannas directly below the East African highlands may well have access to green grass almost year-round.
 
Here are the exhibits I genuinely consider excellent:
White Rhinoceros- Maryland Zoo, North Carolina Zoo, Jacksonville Zoo, Brevard Zoo, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Indianapolis Zoo, Peoria Zoo, Audubon Zoo, Houston Zoo, Tulsa Zoo, San Diego Safari Park, Fresno Chaffee Zoo
Black Rhinoceros- Zoo Atlanta, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Zoo Miami, Saint Louis Zoo, Kansas City Zoo, Great Plains Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Honolulu Zoo
Indian Rhinoceros- Bronx Zoo, Zoo Miami, Fort Worth Zoo, Denver Zoo, San Diego Safari Park
 
The Bronx Zoo has two very nice enclosures for Southern White Rhinoceros and Indian Rhinoceros.

The former's enclosure is more or less a large, long grassy yard. There are multiple small viewing areas with trees and other foliage that border the rest of the outside giving the animals places to go where they're more hidden from the public if they choose. Since it used to be the elephant enclosure, there is also a large pool but that it mostly drained now.

The later's enclosure situation in a forested area along the zoo's monorail and has trees both outside and inside the enclosure. It sits on a bit of a hill and is sort of horseshoe shaped with the lowest point mostly consisting of one very large wallow that, while man-made, has been expanded and reshaped by the zoo's several rhinos over the years.

~Thylo:cool:
 
Sounds cool. I actually hope to visit Bronx within the next few years, as I am probably moving up that way.

I liked Houston Zoo's Southern White Rhino enclosure. It was in a c shape, with a rocky backdrop in part of it. The two individuals were very playful yesterday, making use of the running space, different altitudes, and a big wallow. Sadly, there wasn't a lot of vegetation. They are supposed to share the habitat with Greater Kudu and Thomson's gazelle, but I didn't see them from the habitat's many viewing angles.
 
I should also mention that Bronx's indoor Southern White Rhinoceros enclosure is actually quite poor. It's a pretty small concrete area.

Personally I'm hoping the zoo moves the animals to African Plains or redesigns the inside within the next few years.

~Thylo:cool:
 
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