Northern White Rhinoceros
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 A male northern white rhinoceros at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
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| Ceratotherium simum cottoni (Lydekker, 1908) |
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 Range map in orange
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The Northern White Rhinoceros or Northern Square-lipped rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is one of the two subspecies of the White Rhinoceros. The critically endangered subspecies is a grazer and is an animal of grasslands and savannah woodlands.[1]
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[edit] Wild population
The White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), formerly ranged over parts of north-western Uganda, southern Chad, south-western Sudan, the eastern part of Central African Republic, and north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) [2]. The only confirmed population today occurs in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Poachers reduced their population from 500 to 15 in the 1970s and 1980s. By the early 1990s through mid 2003 the population recovered to more than 32 animals. Surveys in 2000 indicated that the population has started recovering with 30 animals confirmed in 2000 with up to a possible six others [3]. Since mid 2003, poaching has intensified and reduced the wild population to only 5 to 10 animals (7 actual count worldwide).[4]
[edit] Garamba National Park
The last surviving population of wild Northern white rhinos are all located in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Recent civil wars and disruptions have been cause for much concern about the status of this last surviving population. There are only of them 13 left under protection in Garamba National Park.[4]
In January 2005, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) approved a two-part plan for the translocation of five northern white rhino from Garamba National Park to a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya. The second part commits the Government and its international partners to increase conservation efforts in Garamba, so that the northern white rhinos can be returned when it is safe again.[5] The translocation has not occurred yet.
In August 2005, ground and aerial surveys conducted under the direction of African Parks Foundation and the African Rhino Specialist Group (ARSG) have only found four animals. A solitary adult male and a group of one adult male and two adult females. Efforts to locate further animals continue.[5]
[edit] Captive population
The captive northern white rhino population consists of only 9 animals and is maintained in two zoological institutions in the U.S.A. and the Czech Republic. However only three are capable of breeding. The zoo population is declining and is not viable. Northern whites have rarely reproduced in captivity.
[edit] Dvůr Králové Zoo
The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) has some internationally coordinated breeding programmes of wild animals such as the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP). There is also a White Rhino EEP. This EEP includes only 8 individuals, of which 7 pure, of the Northern White Rhinoceros subspecies. These individuals are all located in the Dvůr Králové Zoo in Dvůr Králové nad Labem, Czech Republic. [6]
- Nesari, female wild born at Shambe, Sudan on 19 September 1972.
- Saut, male wild born at Shambe, Sudan on 19 September 1972.
- Sudan, male wild born at Shambe, Sudan on 19 September 1973.
- Suni, male born at Dvůr Králové Zoo, Czech Republic on 8 June 1980.
- Nabire, female born at Dvůr Králové Zoo, Czech Republic on 15 November 1983.
- Najin, female born at Dvůr Králové Zoo, Czech Republic on 11 July 1989.
- Fatu, female born at Dvůr Králové Zoo, Czech Republic on 29 June 2000.
The zoo holds one hybrid female. The mother of this female was a Northern White Rhino (C. s. cottoni), but the father was a Southern White Rhino (C. s. simum) named Arthur.
- Nasi, female born at Dvůr Králové Zoo, Czech Republic on 11 November 1977.
[edit] San Diego Wild Animal Park
The San Diego Wild Animal Park in San Diego, California, U.S.A. has three Northern White Rhinos [4], all of which were wild-caught. They are females named Nola and Nadi. Their male is named Angalifu. Nola is not fertile, and Nadi is not behaviorally receptive, so this captive population is not breeding. Angalifu is the last known male Northern White Rhino left.
[edit] References
- ^ African Rhino Specialist Group 2003. Ceratotherium simum ssp. cottoni. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 16 September 2006 from [1].
- ^ Sydney, J. 1965. The past and present distribution of some African ungulates. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 3:1-397.
- ^ Hillman Smith, K. 2001. Status of northern white rhinos and elephants in Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the wars. Pachyderm journal of the African Elephant, African Rhino and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups. July-December 2001. 31: 79-81.
- ^ a b c International Rhino Foundation. 2002. Rhino Information - Northern White Rhino. Downloaded from [2] at 19 September 2006.
- ^ a b IUCN. 2005. Reprieve planned for Garamba's rhinos: extra efforts promised to safeguard their homeland. Gland, Switzerland, 21 January 2005 News Release. Downloaded from [3]
- ^ White Rhino EEP, Report for ZOO Dvůr Králové, Location: Dvur Kralove nad Labem, Czech Republic. Downloaded at 16 September 2006 from [4].
