Rhinos at British zoo 'inseperable'
14 Jun 10
A recent arrival at a British zoo has calmed the nerves of his new friend with his "chilled attitude", keepers have said.
The two rhinos are inseparable just days after being introduced, a fairly unusual scenario as the massive mammals are normally solitary animals in the wild, jostling for power when they live in the same area.
But the greater one-horned Indian rhinos at Edinburgh Zoo, both 18 months old, behave like brothers. Samir arrived at the zoo last month, while Bertus made his entry last week. Both could weigh between 2-2.5 tonnes when fully grown.
Head keeper for the rhinos, Sue Gaffing, said: "We've had Indian rhinos at Edinburgh Zoo since 2006 but when our males reach breeding age at about five to six, they leave to start their breeding life in another zoo collection and are replaced by juveniles.
"In the wild, rhinos are solitary animals and only tend to come together to mate, but while they are young they can live happily alongside each other. But you are never quite sure how a new pair coming from different collections will get on.
"In the past, there have been dominance struggles but this pair have been totally different.
"Bertus is incredibly relaxed and his chilled attitude has really rubbed off on Samir, who was pretty nervous when he arrived. They are now inseparable, following each other around as if they are attached by an invisible rope."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/ (Edinburgh Zoo)
This story has been viewed 139 times.