Shanti is on loan from the San Francisco Zoo. “We are excited to continue our commitment to the conservation of this endangered species.”Īrun arrived at the Fort Worth Zoo in 1990 as a rare gift from the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal. “This birth is a tremendous milestone for the Fort Worth Zoo,” said Zoo Executive Director Michael Fouraker. The Zoo currently exhibits black and greater one-horned rhinos. The Fort Worth Zoo has bred three of the five rhinoceros species: black, white and now the greater one-horned rhino. The International Rhino Foundation lists the greater one-horned rhino as endangered. The Zoo’s greater one-horned rhinos are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan, a program created to manage a sustainable population of endangered species in AZA zoos. The greater one-horned rhino is one of 43 endangered species at the Fort Worth Zoo. A mature male weighs about 2 tons the female, slightly less than that. Much of the skin on the rump and shoulder has raised circular bumps called tubercles. This rhinoceros species has two distinct skin folds on its body, giving it the appearance of wearing a suit of armor. The greater one-horned rhino is named for the single horn atop its head that measures between 8 and 24 inches. At birth, a young rhinoceros weighs an average 130 pounds. Breeding opportunities are few for males since female rhinos have a gestation period of 15 to 16 months and wait four years after giving birth before reproducing again. The yet-to-be-named calf is the fifth successful offspring for her 25-year-old mother Shanti and the 27th for 22-year-old sire Arun. Both mother and calf are doing well and can now be seen on exhibit in the Zoo’s Asian Falls exhibit. This birth, a major triumph for this endangered species, is the first at the Fort Worth Zoo and the first ever in Texas. Zoo proudly announces first greater one-horned rhino born in TexasįORT WORTH, Texas – The Fort Worth Zoo welcomed a female greater one-horned rhinoceros on August 16, 2012. Fort Worth Zoo reveling over rhinoceros birth August 30, 2012
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