The Wilds Celebrates Three Births
Births at The Wilds are always cause for celebration, but this fall the reward is triple-fold as a Southern White Rhino, a Great One-Horned Rhino and a Persian Onager are garnering the attention of staff and visitors.
The yet-to-be-named female greater one-horned rhino was born on September 22, 2023—just in time for World Rhino Day. She took immediately to the bottle and already weighs more than 150 pounds. The hand-rearing of a rhino calf is a first for The Wilds’ Animal Management team, who acted quickly when they noticed Anna, a first-time mother born at the Bronx Zoo in 2013, was unable to care for her newborn and both required medical interventions. Anna came to The Wilds in 2021.
Dan Beetem, The Wilds Director of Animal Management, said that as the calf grows stronger, the team is working on a plan to integrate her with the herd so that despite the special attention she is receiving her human caregivers, she will have the opportunity to live and develop as a rhino.
“The good news is, we have several young female rhinos with whom she can interact and learn how to be a rhino,” Beetem said. She will continue to be bottle fed for several months. Mother-raised rhinos will typically nurse for almost a year and a half. We expect that she will be ready to start working on reintroduction to the herd once those animals are back in the barns for the winter.”
The calf is the 10th greater one-horned rhino born at The Wilds. Her father is 22-year-old Suru, who was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2000.
The Wilds is also home to 17 southern white rhinos and has had a total of 30 white rhino births since 2004, with the most recent being a female born on September 23. The calf was born in the pasture to 10-year-old Anan, who was born at The Wilds in 2009. This is her fifth calf. The father is 25-year-old Kengele, who was born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. He came to The Wilds in 2012. This is his ninth calf.
For the first time since 2017, a Persian Onager was born. New mother Jemma is 8 years old, and the father is 15-year-old Mandrake, who was born at The Wilds in 2007.
The foal is the 34th onager born at The Wilds, which boasts having nearly half of the species population in North America. While this foal was naturally bred, The Wilds worked with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) to produce the first Persian Onager born from artificial insemination in 2010. There are only 700 Onagers estimated to live in the wild today, mostly in Iran.
With this birth, there are 17 Onagers at The Wilds, and a total of 36 in professional care in North America.
For more information about The Wilds’ conservation initiatives, educational offerings, how to become a member, or to schedule a tour, please visit TheWilds.org and follow The Wilds’ social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
