Pretoria Zoo. The three White Rhinoceroses together consume approximately the following quantities of food per day: Dry luceme 60 lb. Cut oat hay 75 lb. Bran mixture 20 lb. (This contains 3% of common salt and 1% brewers' yeast) Crushed maize 10 lb. Bread 6 lb. Carrots or other vegetables when available 20-30 lb. During the greater part of the year, green Kikuyu grass from the zoo's lawns is provided in liberal quantities. As the illustrations show, the animals remain in good condition on the above food.
In nature the White Rhinoceros has the habit of defecating in definite spots. Large heaps of manure are met within the Umfolozi Reserve, and the rangers in Zululand state that the animals scatter these heaps with their horns.
The enclosure is provided with a shallow bath and in the summer the animals like to lie in this bath. In the Umfolozi Game Reserve White Rhinoceroses are fond of wallowing in pans and they do so mostly at night time. When the animals have finished, they rub themselves against trees or tree-stumps in the neighbourhood. These may be quite smooth from the rubbing over long periods. Low stumps are even used for rubbing the belly.
In nature the White Rhinoceros has the habit of defecating in definite spots. Large heaps of manure are met within the Umfolozi Reserve, and the rangers in Zululand state that the animals scatter these heaps with their horns. In Pretoria I have never seen them make any attempt to do this after defaecation, but they make alternate backward scraping movements with the hind-limbs after defecation or sometimes before the act is completed. Some of these movements may result in channels in the heap of manure. When I first saw this in the case of baby Zuluana, I thought that she was trying to scrape soil over the droppings. Whatever the purpose of these scraping movements may be, it is clear that they are not made in order to cover the faeces with soil.
The enclosure is provided with a shallow bath and in the summer the animals like to lie in this bath. In the Umfolozi Game Reserve White Rhinoceroses are fond of wallowing in pans and they do so mostly at night time. When the animals have finished, they rub themselves against trees or tree-stumps in the neighbourhood. These may be quite smooth from the rubbing over long periods. Low stumps are even used for rubbing the belly. The late Captain H. B. Potter, who was Game Conservator of Zululand for many years, was of the opinion that the White Rhinoceros will breed only when it is able to have its mud-bath. lt is not clear what influence mud-baths can have on the breeding of the animal, but as mud-baths are a normal activity, we sometimes place mud in their bath and they make good use of it. This cannot be done too frequently because of the danger of blocking outlet pipes.
Pretoria Zoo. The three White Rhinoceroses together consume approximately the following quantities of food per day: Dry luceme 60 lb. Cut oat hay 75 lb. Bran mixture 20 lb. (This contains 3% of common salt and 1% brewers' yeast) Crushed maize 10 lb. Bread 6 lb. Carrots or other vegetables when available 20-30 lb. During the greater part of the year, green Kikuyu grass from the zoo's lawns is provided in liberal quantities. As the illustrations show, the animals remain in good condition on the above food.
Although William Burchell described the Square-lipped or White Rhinoceros in the year 1817 from specimens found in Bechuanaland, almost one hundred and thirty years elapsed before a specimen of Ceratotherium simum found its way into a zoological garden. The date of birth of this female, 'Zuluana', is known to be the 23rd July 1946, to within a day. On the 16th January 1949 a young bull White Rhinoceros known as 'Folosi' reached Pretoria. This animal also came from the Umfolosi Game Reserve in Zululand and was believed to be about a year old when it arrived. Folosi was found beside his dead mother in the Mpafa Valley trying to keep the vultures away from his mother's carcase. By an extraordinary stroke of good fortune a third White Rhinoceros, namely a cow about a year old, was received from the Umfolosi Game Reserve on the 23rd August 1952. The National Zoological Gardens are, therefore, in the fortunate position of having one bull and two cows.
Pretoria Zoo. The date of birth of this female, 'Zuluana', is known to be the 23rd July 1946, to within a day. At the age of fifteen days Zuluana weighed 105.25 lb. She was weighed at regular intervals until she was eighteen months old, when weighing had to be discontinued because the animal and its crate were too heavy to be handled. The following few weights may be cited: At three months 138.5 lb. At six months 241 lb. At nine months 300 lb. At twelve months 482 lb. At eighteen months 1,013 lb.
