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Bigger Stakes his surroundings was an important Black lRehino
first step before he even joined the ma
So how do you introduce the herd because care staff wanted him
previously unacquainted male and comfortable in his new home. excited with Layla and they would
female of an extremely large species need to be parted. Before the two had
to get them to mate? To borrow the Next, it was time for Ato to meet full access to each other, they got to
punchline from a popular joke: very everyone else face to face. Animal care know each other through bars, with
carefully. Great patience and expertise staff or specially trained docents were fewer bars between them in phases.
go into ensuring that introductions go on hand to keep an eye on the giraffes.
smoothly between two individuals of All of our monitors have a significant For staff, it helps to know when
a species on the hefty end of the scale. mental catalog of reticulated the two participants are in a breeding
giraffe behaviors and know when a mood. A male typically displays
Animals are introduced for meeting of giraffes in this situation obvious behaviors like smelling a
mating purposes all the time at is proceeding according to plan. female’s feces, licking her urine,
Brookfield Zoo, and this year, we shuffling his feet, and grumbling
are in the process of doing so for two And then there are rhinos. Because in a low vocalization. He may also
of the largest: giraffes and rhinos. these animals are so large and are use a flehmen response, pulling
active during introductions, care staff back his lips to allow pheromones
Ato, a 2-year-old male giraffe, need to be prepared to quickly separate packed with information to
arrived here from Fort Wayne them if they become overly excited. reach an organ in his mouth.
Children’s Zoo in April to breed
with 10-year-old Arnieta, based At 26 years old, our Nakili Like all female rhinos, Layla
on a recommendation from the is a male who has experience in can display outward indications of
Species Survival Plan for giraffes. breeding—but longer than 10 years reproductive readiness, but animal
Many reticulated giraffes living ago. Layla, 6 years old, is just into care staff go further by collecting
in North American zoos are older prime breeding age and, as such, has her feces daily. Experts in our
or may not have a documented never given birth to offspring. As with Endocrinology Lab analyze the feces
lineage, but Arnieta and Ato are the giraffes, their pairing is based on for hormones that show she is in estrus.
young and we know that they a recommendation by the Species
are not related in any way. Survival Plan for rhinos. This is a very Others are closely watching our
important recommendation, as there rhinos. Experts from Cincinnati
As do all animals when they are few rhinos living in zoos, they have Zoo’s Conservation and Research
first come to the zoo, the newcomer low reproductive success, and it is a of Endangered Wildlife (CREW)
lived in a quarantine area so that big deal to move one to another zoo. team are using this pairing situation
our veterinarians could make sure to try to understand why rhinos
that he didn’t have any diseases Staff prepared for the introduction in zoos have such a low degree of
that might potentially pass to the between the two by housing them in success in reproducing. Through
other giraffes. But he did have stalls separated by a door operated daily video recordings and our
visual access to the females of our by a crank mechanism. Stall doors fecal analyses, they are comparing
herd and to male Potoka. (More elsewhere in the Pachyderm building hormone levels, external stimuli,
than one male living in a herd close hydraulically and would be too and aggressive behavior to discover
together is normal for this species.) slow should Nakili become overly which combination of these
factors most leads to success.
After his quarantine period, ReticulafteemdaleGiraffe
Ato had time to acclimate to the
outdoor yard at Habitat Africa!
The Savannah. Getting to know
BROOKFIELD ZOO | SUMMER 2017 21
