Project
Pachyderm got a boost on Monday, May 1, when six Southern White Rhinos
jostled in on two large, sturdy trucks. The trucks brought the three
mothers and three calves in from White Oak Plantation, a Florida-based
sanctuary and research facility for endangered and exotic animals. The
three calves are all about one year old. Two of the calves are male and
one is female.
The rhinos’ arrival marks another milestone in the Zoo's progress
toward opening two enlarged and improved exhibits for African Elephants
and Southern White Rhinos. The new exhibits and their accompanying new
elephant barn and refurbished rhinoceros barn are all part of an $8.5
million expansion that should eventually bring newborn rhino and
elephant calves to the Zoo. These births will further expand the
contributions the N.C. Zoo can make toward the conservation of these
species.
Private donations to the N.C. Zoo Society provided more than $7 million
dollars for this project, which will be known as the Watani Grasslands
Reserve. (Watani is a Swahili term meaning “fatherland.")
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