The first meeting with the new male rhinoceros at the zoo turned into a disaster when the female rhinoceros fell into a pond while trying to escape and drowned.
Limpopo the rhinoceros at Wildlands Zoo on September 13. Photo: Wildlands Zoo
On September 16, the female rhinoceros named Elena was frightened by the appearance of a white rhinoceros named Limpopo at the Wildlands Zoo in the eastern city of Emmen, near the German border. After a brief chase, the exhausted female slipped and fell into a pond while the zoo staff tried to guide the male rhinoceros away. They were unable to save Elena, and she tragically drowned.
The 19-year-old Limpopo was transferred to Wildlands Zoo in early September from another zoo in the Netherlands, where he had fathered three calves as part of a breeding program in Europe. The male rhinoceros and two female rhinoceroses at Wildlands, Elena and Zahra, were getting acquainted by sniffing and observing each other from separate enclosures. According to the plan, before visitors arrived on the morning of September 16, Limpopo was released into the area where the female rhinoceroses grazed.
“From that moment, Limpopo became very active. Both female rhinoceroses were startled by the presence of the male and ran away. As a result, Limpopo chased after them. He seemed particularly focused on Elena because she was closer to him,” the zoo reported.
After 15 minutes, both rhinoceroses appeared to be exhausted. Elena fell into the shallow pond, lay on her side, and was unable to get back up. The zoo staff could not reach her in time to prevent her from drowning. Veterinarian Job Stumpel expressed his sorrow over Elena’s passing.
“We wanted to jump right in and lift her head out of the water, but we couldn’t. Not only was it very dangerous, but the rhinoceros also weighs nearly 2,000 kg. We used a shovel to try to chase the male away to get closer to the female, but it was too late,” Stumpel recounted.
According to the zoo, introducing a male typically requires intervention but has never resulted in a fatality before. Limpopo was moved from a zoo in Germany six years ago due to his aggressive behavior towards female rhinoceroses. At the safari zoo Beekse Bergen near Tilburg in southern Netherlands, he was a good breeding candidate, living with a group of six females.
The southern white rhinoceros is listed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with only 10,080 individuals remaining. Rhinoceroses are hunted for their horns, which are used in traditional medicine. However, breeding this species is very challenging. A female rhinoceros only gives birth to one calf every 3 to 4 years, with a gestation period of up to 16 months.
