In the interior cages there were 2 adult female Sumatran rhinos, of which one had a young calf of about a week old, born in the zoo on 24 May 1987 according to the keepers. There also was an adult male. All three adults were wild caught, and they were very tame. The mother of the calf had been caught when pregnant. The keeper went into the enclosure with mother and baby and the mother did not only allow him to touch the calf, but also liked to be scratched herself. The male was let outside and after some play, he lay down and allowed the keeper to scratch his stomach.
Reason of death lung infection , Male, Malacca Zoo
visit in early June 1987. In the interior cages there were 2 adult female Sumatran rhinos, of which one had a young calf of about a week old, born in the zoo on 24 May 1987 according to the keepers. There also was an adult male. All three adults were wild caught, and they were very tame. The mother of the calf had been caught when pregnant. The keeper went into the enclosure with mother and baby and the mother did not only allow him to touch the calf, but also liked to be scratched herself. The male was let outside and after some play, he lay down and allowed the keeper to scratch his stomach. The male had arrived one month before in exchange for a female from Indonesia, where it had been caught by the people of John Aspinall. There would be, the keepers said, another two females in a Forest Camp in Malaysia, and were to bebrought to Malacca later. Unfortunately, the male died shortly after my visit after a sickness which lasted only 11 hours, said to be a lung infection.
