Rhino sisters (L-R) Ailsa and Bonnie, united for the first time, at West Midlands Safari Park – credit, SWNS Media.Two UK safari parks have completed a rhino swap, trading a captive-born male ready to breed for a feisty female who’s off to where her sister lives.
The male is believed to have the necessary genetics to sire many healthy rhinos, which zookeepers said should go a long way towards helping keep the species intact.
Bonnie, a two-ton southern white rhino, has already arrived at West Midlands Safari Park while the male, Granville, made his way to Woburn Safari Park, in Bedfordshire.
Granville was born at West Midlands Park in 2018 to a mother rhino named Ailsa, who coincidentally is also Bonnie’s sister, meaning the swap reunited the sisters who had never met before.
The two parks say they hope their collaborative efforts will go some way to preserving the genetic diversity of the species, which despite being the world’s most numerous rhino, is still considered by the IUCN to be Threatened.
“It has been bittersweet for the team,” said Head Zookeeper of ungulates at West Midlands Safari Park, Lisa Watkins. “We have all enjoyed watching him grow up from a cute little tank running around the safari, excited to meet the other species in his habitat, to the character he is today.”
“We will miss him coming up for a fuss in the mornings, but… look forward to hearing that he has become a father in the future and to visiting him in his new home. We are proud to have played a huge part in the future conservation of the species.”
Speaking of the new, 8-year-old arrival Bonnie Watkins said she has settled in well now and has been mixed with most members of the herd so far.
“She has been out on safari enjoying the mud wallow and meeting the other animals.
To the east, Rhino Keeper at Woburn Safari Park, Zack Turner, shared the sympathies of the West Midlands Park team upon the loss of Bonnie.
STATE OF THE RHINOS:
“She’s a great rhino to work with and has so much personality. Although it’s sad to see her go, the chance to hopefully have a breeding group of rhinos, with the introduction of Granville is something that excites us all,” he told the British news media outlet, SWNS.
“With white rhinos being a species that face a lot of struggles out in the wild, breeding them here at Woburn would be a great step in the right direction for their conservation.”
Since arriving at the park, Bonnie has taken some time settling in and getting to know the other rhinos in neighboring paddocks in the rhino house. She met her sister Ailsa for the first time and the park said the pair displayed some sibling rivalry right off the bat.
The pair greeted each other with a short pushing match which lasted for a minute or two before they went off to share some hay together.
Both Ailsa and Bonnie started life at yet another safari park in the UK called Blair Drummond, in Scotland—which seems awfully cold for rhinos.
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