Mounted skin. Collected by: Zoo Adelaide, 1907. In coll. South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia
Mounted skin. Collected by: Zoo Adelaide, 1907. In coll. South Australian Museum, Adelaide, Australia
Reason of death Enteritis, Adelaide Zoo
The Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis, of Africa was first introduced into the Garden in 1929 when a young pair was purchased by a member of the Council while on a visit to East Africa. Unfortunately they survived only a few weeks before both died from enteritis, a disease which was said to be very prevalent among new arrivals in zoos, particularly those from Africa. In 1948 a young male specimen captured at Sinya, Tanganyika in January 1947 was presented by Mr. Edward Hallstrom. This animal made history by travelling by air from Sydney to Adelaide. It was believed to be about 21/2 years old when it arrived in 1948 and is still on exhibition. All costs of capture and delivery to Adelaide were borne by Mr. Hallstrom. It is still alive and well.
In1886 the Director, R. E. Minchin, while on a trip to Ceylon, Malaya, and Siam in search of live specimens for the Gardens, purchased, in Singapore, an 'Indian' Rhinoceros which was believed to be Rhinoceros unicornis and this specimen was a show piece among the exhibits until it died in 1907, after 21 years in the Zoo (see photo p. 12). A post mortem examination showed that it had died of old age and that its teeth were so worn that it could not properly masticate its food. For the previous 18 months to 2 years it had been kept alive by feeding it bran mashes and similar foods. The body was handed over to the S.A. Museum which had it skinned and mounted for exhibition in that institution. In 1948 a visiting American professor, Dr. Harold C. Coolidge, saw the exhibit and recognised it as being a Javan Rhinoceros, R. sondaicus, and not the Indian species.
