Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch's southern white rhino breeding program spawns second birth within one year

Southern white rhinoceroses are threatened in the wild, rhino breeding programs touted as lifelines to strengthening conservation efforts

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch (NBWR) welcomed the birth of a male southern white rhino named Rudy, born to parents Gertie and Kutu on September 2, 2024. Rudy is a half-sister to female southern white rhino Truda born at NBWR in November 2023. Two rhino births within a year mark a critical success in the ongoing conservation efforts to protect this vulnerable species.

"Rudy, with his energetic and playful demeanor, is a symbol of hope for the preservation of white rhinos," said NBWR Animal Husbandry Director Tiffany Soechting. "Coupled with Truda turning 1, it's a big feat for our breeding program and for rhino conservation efforts worldwide."

Southern white rhinos, once teetering on the brink of extinction, are considered near threatened by The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). According to the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), the largest threat to rhinos is the brutality of illegal poaching, and the southern white rhinos are suffering the largest impact.

"Rhino numbers have been declining in the wild in the last decade at an alarming rate and while intensive rhino breeding programs exist, many fail due to behavioral capabilities and low infertility. Those breeding programs that succeed are providing invaluable insight on how to reverse the species decline," said Dr. Stephen Momberg, a wildlife expert and veterinarian in Mid Wales, UK, who actively studies rhino habitat in his native South Africa. 

NBWR Southern White Rhino Breeding Program
Soechting and her team have been working with animal conservation experts from around the world for over a decade to aid in projects that ensure the longevity of rhino and giraffe in the wild including Dr. Francois Deacon, a wildlife habitat expert, and lecturer at the University of the Free State South Africa. Deacon leads multiple animal conservation research efforts including an interdisciplinary project on the  Ecological and biological factors regulating rhino.

In 2021, NBWR received permits from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), to work with facilities in South Africa to import two young female white rhinos, Helga and Gertie. Helga is the mother of both Truda and Gertie is the mother of Rudy.

In September, NBWR again was granted USFWS permits to import two young adult female southern white rhinos in collaboration with a facility in Namibia. Both rhinos, Agnes and Cora, have acclimated to their new home.

"As they mature, we are optimistically anticipating sharing more birth announcements," said Soechting. NBWR is one of 300 accredited zoological facilities in the United States and of those less than 30 have successfully bred southern white rhinos.

"We know that collaborating on a deeper level to save white rhinos is the next step," said Soechting.  "Our animal care team along with our staff veterinarian traveled to South Africa in September to work closely with private rhino reserves, wildlife veterinarians and an international conservation program to learn rhino health care practices on large free roaming herds on private reserves and placement of satellite tags to help prevent poaching."

There are roughly 16,800 southern white rhinoceros left in the wild living in 11 African countries with the largest wild populations in their native South Africa, including Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, but also in numerous state-protected areas and private reserves throughout the country.

NBWR's mission is focused on animal conservation through education. Guests can visit NBWR to view the crash, a herd of rhinos, that are proving integral in rhino conservation worldwide.

About Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
Opened in 1984, Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch has become one of Texas' most recognized entertainment attractions and leaders in animal conservation. Internationally recognized for rare twin giraffe births in 2013, the ranch's successful giraffe breeding program has aided in the awareness and conservation of giraffe in the wild.

Designated as a Texas Land Heritage property, the same family has operated the ranch for over140 years. The Ranch covers 450 acres of Texas hill country terrain and provides 6 miles of paved roads where guests drive through and witness the natural animal behaviors of over 800 animals from over 40 exotic, native and endangered animal species worldwide. The natural, free-roaming environment is home to many unique animals, including southern white rhinoceroses, reticulated giraffes, addaxes, scimitar-horned oryxes, American bison, aoudads, bongos, dama gazelles, gibbons, ring-tailed lemurs, as well as many zebras, emus, ostriches, and wildebeests. For more information, visit www.WildlifeRanchTexas.com.

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SOURCE Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch