OKC Zoo rhino heads to new home
Staff Writer mpatterson@oklahoman.com
Rupert the rhino is headed east.
The Oklahoma City Zoo announced last week it is transferring a 3-yearold greater one-horned rhino to the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, Indiana.
Rupert was born in Oklahoma City on June 21, 2014, after a 15-month gestation period.
At Mesker Park he will be integrated into that zoo's rhino herd and later bred.
“He’ll share his habitat with a grand, older female named Meski until a young female is available for him to breed with,” Oklahoma City Zoo curator Laura Bottaro said.
Rupert's own birth was based on the genetic compatibility of his parents, Niki and Chandra.
Chandra arrived at the OKC Zoo November 1990 and has since sired several offspring with other females.
Niki arrived at the zoo in February 2009.
Rupert is a favorite among zoo staff.
Bottaro recalled his birth didn't quite go as expected.
Niki delivered him outside and they spent their first night together outdoors wallowing in mud.
Zoo staff had wanted her to give birth indoors.
“We’ll truly miss watching our little guy romp around, but this move is crucially important for his entire species,” Bottaro said.
The subspecies of rhino Rupert belongs to is a success story in the conservation world.
Thanks to strict protections in India, the rhinos have moved from endangered to vulnerable, according to the International Union for Conservation.
Today, there are about 3,500 greater one-horned rhinos in India, twice the number 20 years ago, according to data from the World Wildlife Fund.
Rhinos remain critically endangered in Africa, where their horns are often the target of poachers.