Looking for love, white rhino ‘Emma’ lands in Japan
TOKYO: Like many of us, Emma has had her travel plans derailed by coronavirus. But a er months of delay, the white rhino has arrived in Japan and is looking for love.
The mild-mannered five-yearold comes by way of Taiwan’s Leofoo Safari Park, where she beat a herd of competitors for the chance to find a companion and breed.
She had been scheduled for transfer to the Saitama Tobu zoo outside Tokyo in March, but complications caused by the pandemic pushed back her departure.
“A er some delays due to the coronavirus, Emma, a southern white rhino, arrived at our zoo on the evening of 8th June,” the Saitama Tobu zoo said in a statement.
“We slowly opened the shipping container which was placed in front of her sleeping room. Emma, without showing any signs of shyness, went straight into the sleeping room,” it added.
The rhino used the extra time in Taiwan to prepare for the move, with keepers using Japanese for words like “come” and “no” to get her ready for her new home.
Safari staff said she was picked from a herd of 23 rhinos because of her even temper and slender physique.
“Emma was chosen because of her mild personality... and her smaller size also makes it easier to ship overseas,” Sean Wu, the park’s chief veterinarian and animal manager, told AFP earlier this year.
“She seldom gets into fights with other rhinos or snatches others’ food.”
She is expected to be on show to the public in Japan for several weeks, but she also has the more serious business of ge ing acquainted with her first suitor: 10-year-old Moran.
Zoo breeding programmes have played a key role in repopulating southern white rhino herds.
The species currently numbers around 19,000, found in the wild across southern Africa, according to the conservation group Save the Rhino. — AFP