What’s billed as the world’s tallest rhino sculpture will be displayed in San Antonio.
Zoo brings in artwork, plans to open habitat for the at-risk animal
As the San Antonio Zoo revamps its rhinoceros habitat and prepares to add three new southern white rhinos in 2019, zoo officials announced that what’s billed as the tallest rhino sculpture in the world will soon be permanently on display in the Alamo City.
The 17-foot bronze sculpture was unveiled in March at the Metro Tech Commons in Brooklyn. It will be transported from New York to the San Antonio Zoo early next year, according to a news release from the zoo.
“Our zoo’s logo features two iconic animals, the giraffe and rhino, which are both on the brink of extinction and both of which are species we are working to save,” zoo CEO Tim Morrow said. “It is fitting to bring this iconic artwork to San Antonio as we open the rhino habitat, the latest in our ongoing expansion projects.”
Sculpted by contemporary artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, the piece depicts the last three living northern white rhinos on top of each other, one of them upside down. Known as “The Last Three,” the balancing rhinos were designed to symbolize the “precarious position” the animals found themselves in as the last of their kind in the world.
Just three days after the artwork was unveiled, 45-year-old Sudan, the male rhino in the sculpture, died from an infection that set in when he already was battling age-related complications, officials said. With the only remaining northern white rhinos both female — his daughter and granddaughter — it’s likely the species will go extinct. Genetic material from several northern white rhinos, including Sudan, is in storage and scientists hope to use in vitro fertilization with a southern white rhino surrogate to produce a northern white rhino, but there are no assurances it will work.
The two female northern white rhinos remain at a preserve in Kenya under armed guard.
Though the northern white rhino may soon be extinct, the San Antonio Zoo plans to reinstate its breeding program for southern white rhinos, which was initially started in 1972 and successfully produced 19 rhino births.
There are only about 20,000 surviving southern white rhinos, most of them in four African countries, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The San Antonio Zoo will receive two female southern white rhinos from other zoos in early 2019, followed shortly after by a male. About that time, the zoo will be opening its expanded rhino exhibit that will give the huge mammals more space. The rhinos’ living space will connect to the giraffe and zebra habitat, producing a more true-to-nature environment. The new area will feature a waterfall, a mud wallow and more trees and landscaping.
“We want The Last Three to celebrate all of the amazing people and organizations that drive positive change in wildlife conservation,” Gillie Schattner said. “However, our goal is also to continue the efforts of San Antonio Zoo and inspire generations to join the battle for rhino conservation.”