Gustavo Monge |
Prague (EFE).- A group of dedicated and affectionate caretakers, an individualized menu and playful cats. They are the keys of the Dvur Kralove Czech Zoo to successfully breeding the seriously endangered eastern black rhinoceros.
Of all births of this subspecies (Diceros bicornis michaeli) in captivity in the last year, half were at this zoo located 150 kilometers east of Prague.
Here Magashi was born on the 4th, just one year after Kiev Edy -who received the name in solidarity with the country then recently invaded by Russia-, and on December 13 Mihindi, the only female of the three, saw the light of day.
Since rhino breeding began at the Czech zoo in the 1970s, 60 animals have been born in Dvur Kralove, including 49 specimens of the eastern black type, whose population in the world, decimated in its natural habitat by indiscriminate hunting and furtive, is estimated at 800.
Caregivers without schedules
“Having an initial group of young rhinos and caregivers who don’t know schedules” is one of the keys to the success of this program, explained 58-year-old veterinarian Jan Zdarek to EFE, who has been here for four decades.
In addition, the animals have an individual menu: in the reserved area, the keepers prepare the food, and each animal has its own box with its name and different products, which vary according to its age, tastes and condition.
The eastern black rhino eats fruit -especially bananas-, vegetables -such as kohlrabi or carrots-, shrubs and fruit trees -they like cherry branches-, as well as feed.
The daily cost to maintain one of these large land mammals is 16 euros, half the cost of food for a white rhinoceros, which is herbivorous.
As they are sensitive to hearing and smell, they get used to being called by their name from a young age, and to being caressed, while some females that give birth are trained to give their milk and thus have a reserve in case of need.
There are even several black cats in the area, like Mia, who, in addition to hunting rodents, also play with rhinos, something that has a positive effect on the animals, says Zdarek.
other hits
In addition to the 49 eastern black rhinos born here, five of the northern white subspecies (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) are native to Dvur Kralove, practically extinct, as only two females remain in Kenya, Najin and Fatu, both from the Czech zoo.
Dvur Kralove is the only facility of its kind where this rare subspecies has been successfully bred, although it now relies more on artificial fertilization and advances in cell engineering.
Through sophisticated procedures, attempts are being made to obtain primordial germ cells -from stem cells- so that Fatu, 23, does not have to ovulate.
The cast of these large mammals born in the Czech zoo is completed by two southern whites, a cross between southern and northern white, and three Indian rhinos.
So far, nine specimens of eastern black rhino – almost a fifth – have already been returned to their natural habitat in Rwanda and Tanzania, and animals have also been transferred to other partners in the protection network, made up of fifteen zoos in Europe and America.