Animals zoo african rhinoceros black7/23/2023 They have an amazing anti-poaching unit, great surveillance, and we know that that's a secure location," Metzler said. That's why we've already been over there. ![]() "Poaching, of course, is always a concern for rhinos in Africa. The rhino will have to interact with elephants and other animals, and keepers want to make sure he is safe from the biggest threat his species faces - man. They'll be watching to see if he's eating plants, what plants he is eating," Metzler said.Įric also won't be the biggest kid on the block anymore. They'll be watching to see how often he's visiting the watering hole. The Tanzania reserve is "very wild," Metzler said, but it is also protected with the rhino under constant observation. "He's been living with cape buffalo and with African antelope and African birds and so his life here is actually pretty similar to what his life is going to be in Africa." "He's not a typical zoo rhino," Metzler said. He explained that Eric's home in San Diego was not that different from where he was moved to in Tanzania. Steve Metzler is the curator of mammals at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Eventually, keepers hope to let Eric have the run of the reserve, but that will happen under close supervision because he needs to acclimate to living on his own. If the animal adjusts well, the rhino will get access to a larger area in the park. Conservationists in Tanzania have already identified a female eastern black rhino and they hope the pair will be prolific and produce lots of offspring. ![]() We expect for him to be in the smaller enclosure that he is in for several months and then he'll be released into a bigger one," Burden said.Ī successful transition to living in Africa is the first part of the mission. "We also have to monitor and figure out different diseases that we have in Tanzania that he wouldn't have been exposed to from ticks or tsetse flies, so all of that is being monitored.
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