Breeding time for White Rhinos

Breeding time for White Rhinos

Pascale, Rhino Keeper Our White Rhinoceros herd is doing well with Nadira the last calf born at the Zoo recently turning two. She’s getting closer to being the same size as her mother.   Recently, we put three of our females in a breeding group with one of our bulls and hopefully this will produce some calves in 2011. One of the females in this group, Azizi, was the female that was born six weeks after the arrival of five White Rhinos from Kruger National Park in 2003. With the demand for rhino horn on the increase, poaching of White Rhinos has increased enormously in the last 15 years. In South Africa in 2007, 13 Rhinos were poached and in 2009, 94 Rhino were poached.  The current population in the wild is approximately 14,500 with the Rhino now having the conservation status of Near Threatened.