On Wednesday afternoon, the Calgary Zoo officially announced its plans to convert the enclosure which currently houses the zoo’s elephants into a world class facility for rhinoceros.
The zoo is set to add a pair of greater one-horned rhinoceros from San Diego which, once they make their way to Calgary, will establish the Calgary Zoo as part of an international rhino breeding program.
Dr. Jake Veasey, Director of Animal Care, Conservation and Research, says the elephant house will make an ideal space for the much smaller species of pachyderm.
“Whilst greater one-horned rhino and Asian elephants can share the same habitat, their needs are quite different. Greater one-horned rhino are markedly smaller than elephants and crucially far less social dramatically reducing the scale and complexity of the animal management challenge we face in providing first class care on a year round basis. ”, said Dr. Veasey. “Essentially, whilst our indoor elephant space was marginal, our plans for the indoor rhino space are world class.”
There are approximately 3,000 greater one horned rhinoceros in the world and the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the species as vulnerable.
The exhibit is scheduled to open in June of 2014, but the tentative date could be pushed back if the zoo encounters delays in moving the elephants, rebuilding the habitat, or bringing the rhinos to Canada.
