Escondido, California - A 6-week-old greater one-horned rhino calf received a bottle feeding at the Ione and Paul Harter Animal Care Center at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park earlier today, and then was given some time to get to know a possible new playmate, an 8-month-old Ankole calf. The pair, introduced three days ago, have not yet bonded and are still getting to know each other. Animal care staff at the Safari Park hope that they will become longtime companions.
The male rhino calf, named Chutti, which means holiday in Nepalese, was born on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, to first-time mother Kaya in the Safari Park’s Asian Plains exhibit. While Kaya nursed and cared for her newborn for almost two weeks, keepers realized he wasn’t gaining weight as he should. To provide the calf with the optimal care to thrive, he was brought to the Safari Park’s animal care center where he is being hand-raised.
Since the rhino is being raised in a nursery setting, it is important for him to get daily exercise and have companionship. The female Ankole calf, affectionately named Moo Moo Kitty by keepers, was born on May 23 and also was born to a first-time mother that couldn’t properly care for her calf. Keepers hand-raised and recently weaned the Ankole, and they felt she would make the perfect companion for the little rhino since both are social animals.
The Safari Park animal care team has successfully provided companions for rhino calves in the past, including exotic cows, Barbary sheep and goats. Keepers say they look for animals of similar size, weight and demeanor and monitor them to ensure they are a good fit for each other. If Chutti and Moo Moo Kitty bond, they could be companions until the little rhino is weaned in 14 to 15 months.
Since first being brought to the nursery, the little rhino has gained almost 4 pounds a day, from 160 pounds to 285 pounds. When full grown he can weigh between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds. The Ankole calf weighed approximately 42 pounds at birth and is currently around 300 pounds. When full grown, she can weigh between 950 to 1,200 pounds.
The greater-one horned rhino is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to poaching threats and the illegal use of rhino horn. There are an estimated 3,250 greater one-horned rhinos remaining in the wild. This calf is the 68th greater one-horned rhino born at the Safari Park since 1975, making the Park the foremost breeding facility in the world for this species. Ankole cattle are a domesticated breed of cattle, originally from Africa. This Ankole calf was the 38th calf born at the Safari Park since 1986.
Visitors to the Safari Park may see these unlikely companions at the animal care center nursery corral between 1 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. daily, weather permitting, and possibly other times throughout the day.
Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes onsite wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The work of these entities is made accessible to children through the San Diego Zoo Kids network, reaching out through the Internet and in children’s hospitals nationwide. The work of San Diego Zoo Global is made possible by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global.
