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  • White rhino

White rhino

Find me in
Wild Africa
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Quick facts

Lifespan

Lifespan

15 to 20 years in the wild

40-50 years under human care

Diet

Diet

Grass

Habitat

Habitat

Savannah grassland

Range

Range

Africa

Central and southern regions

Hey Baby

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The white rhinos

Grass-grazing giants

Grass-grazing giants

A huge animal that feeds exclusively on grass, the white rhino has a wide mouth shaped for ‘mowing’ short grass. Its square lips set it apart from the hook-lipped black rhino.

Like horses and tapirs, rhinos have a simple stomach. Bacteria in their digestive tract help them digest the 60-80kg of vegetation they eat a day.

Our rhinos are fed pellets and leaves on top of grass. Keepers scatter these on the ground to suit their grazing habits. Fruits are given as treats.

Mud spas

Mud spas

Rhinos wallow in mud to cool off, so keepers make sure the big mud pool in the exhibit is always filled. Dried mud also acts as sunscreen for the rhinos.

In the wild, tickbirds pick out ticks and other parasites hiding among the creases in the rhino’s skin. Local birds, however, go as far as to peck on our rhinos’ flesh - a problem also faced by other zoos. Our keepers check their charges daily for any open wounds, applying medicine and rubbing mud over for added protection.

Horny business

Horny business

White rhinos mark their territory using communal dung piles (middens). Males step on and kick their faeces around to warn off other males. Males can also tell if females are ready to mate with a whiff of the midden.

Courtship disputes are settled with a clash of horns. Sadly, these horns are no defence against poachers’ guns. Alike to a mass of compacted hair, rhino horns are strangely prized for medicinal and ornamental uses and worth more than gold on the black market.

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The keeper

Ram

S Chidambaram s/o Suppiah

Head Keeper
White Rhino
Ram

S Chidambaram s/o Suppiah

Head Keeper

Could you share about your history at the Zoo?

I joined the Zoo in 1984. I started at the show, working with the reptiles, orangutans and chimpanzees. But I was restless.

Back then, it was a challenge to breed rhinos. I wanted to give it a go, so I requested to work with them. I’ve been with them ever since. 

Ram

S Chidambaram s/o Suppiah

Head Keeper
Ram

S Chidambaram s/o Suppiah

Head Keeper

How did the breeding programme start?

For a long time, we had only had two rhinos – Hattari and Jenny, and they never bred. As white rhinos are social animals, we decided to bring in two more females. Donsa and Shova came to us from Africa and our first calf, Uhura, was born to Shova shortly after. Since then we’ve had babies every two years – the gestation period is 16-17 months.
Ram

S Chidambaram s/o Suppiah

Head Keeper
Ram

S Chidambaram s/o Suppiah

Head Keeper

Do you still remember when Uhura was born?

Yes, it was a Sunday afternoon. A huge crowd had gathered. Shova had given birth in the exhibit itself! She couldn’t tend to her newborn right after as she was in pain. Donsa was the one licking the baby the first two hours. That night, Shova refused to come into the den with Uhura. We kept watch overnight to ensure they were both safe.

Together, we protect wildlife

Inter-zoo breeding efforts

Inter-zoo breeding efforts

Uhura, our first rhino baby, went to Australia’s Monarto Zoo in Dec 2000. Her younger siblings have gone to zoos in Asia and USA. Inter-zoo breeding programmes diversify the gene pool and increase rhino numbers. Uhura is now a proud mother herself!

The IUCN Status

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

Pushed to the brink

Pushed to the brink

There are two subspecies of the white rhino - the northern and the southern. The population of the northern was stable up to the late 1990s. In less than a decade, they have been wiped out by rampant poaching. The last few in a Czech zoo were sent to Kenya. They are the northern’s last hope.

The IUCN Status

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

The ‘hornest’ truth

The ‘hornest’ truth

The southern was also once on the brink of extinction. By the end of the 19th century, there were just 20-50 left. Conservation efforts grew numbers in the wild to 20,000 by 2010. But illegal poaching, too, is on the rise. By 2017, these numbers have declined to 18,000. The ‘hornest’ truth is: you buy, they die. Let’s stamp out the rhino horn trade together.

The IUCN Status

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.

DD

Data Deficient

Unknown risk of extinction

LC

Least Concern

At relatively low risk of extinction

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

VU

Vulnerable

At high risk of extinction in the wild

EN

Endangered

At very high risk of extinction in the wild

CR

Critically Endangered

At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

EW

Extinct in the Wild

Survives only in captivity

EX

Extinct

No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity

Special Experiences

White Rhino Feeding

Wild Africa 1.15pm

Don’t miss out on this rare close encounter with these magnificent creatures! Hold a honeydew slice to their mouths and feel their breath on your hand as they gently take the treat from you.

S$ 8 /food portion
Online booking required
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Every visit to our parks comes with

Every visit to our parks comes with
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