Dvur Kralove Zoo, Czech, is to ship another endangered black rhino to Mkomazi, Tanzania

Date: 25.08.2014

The Dvur Kralove Zoo is to donate its young black rhino female Eliska to the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary in the Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania. The agreement has been made by the zoo director Premysl Rabas and renowned conservationist Tony Fitzjohn who runs Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary. Eliska will be transferred to the same sanctuary to which three black rhinos were shipped from the zoo in 2009.

“The rhinos that were transferred to Mkomazi from the zoo in 2009 have been doing pretty well here. Female Deborah even gave birth to a young calf named Hilla three years ago, ” said Tony Fitzjohn. “We are very happy to receive Eliska when she is old enough to travel,” added Lucy Fitzjohn who runs Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary with her husband. “Helping with wildlife conservation is the most admirable goal of zoological gardens. And the Dvur Kralove Zoo has excellent results in this field.”

“Eliska is expected to go back to Africa in autumn 2015,” said Premysl Rabas, the director of the zoo. The rhino is of critically endangered eastern subspecies. Its progenitors were shipped to then Czechoslovakia from Tsavo park in Kenya that neighbours on Mkomazi. “It means Eli will come back to her homeland,” said Rabas.

The Dvur Kralove Zoo is one of the most successful breeders of black rhinos in captivity, 39 calves have been born in the zoo so far, all of them of eastern subspecies. Eli was born to female Etosha in September 2012.

Mkomazi National Park is 3245 square kilometres of virgin land in northern Tanzania. The park is run by the Tanzanian National Parks authority that works in close partnership with Tony Fitzjohn and his supporting George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trusts.  Rhinos are bred in a large fenced and patrolled sanctuary. “We are well aware that rhino populations in Africa are under immense pressure. However, the Mkomazi National Park has achieved great results in rhino conservation and it is our covinction that Mkomazi is the best place for creating a new viable rhino population in Tanzania,” said Rabas. “In view of our breeding record, it is our moral obligation to help to save rhinos and restore their numbers in the wild.”

Black rhino is a critically endangered species due to a large-scale poaching that took place in 1970s and 1980s. Killing of rhinos resulted in a terrible 96% decline from 65,000 individuals in 1970 to only 2,300 in 1993. Thanks to the conservation efforts across Africa black rhino numbers have risen since the early 1990s to a current population of more than 5,000. However, numbers of the eastern subspecies have risen to approximately 800 only, making it the most vulnerable of all surviving subspecies.

For more infromation please contact:

Jan Stejskal, Dvur Kralove Zoo, In Situ Projects Co-ordinator
m: +420 608 009 072, email: jan.stejskal@zoodk.cz

About the Dvur Kralove Zoo:

The Dvur Kralove Zoo is situated in the Czech Republic and it has been one of the most important breeders of African ungulates in the world since the late 1970s. The zoo is the only animal park where the northern white rhino has ever bred in captivity (four calves). In total, 51 rhinos (four species) have been born in the zoo. Most of the newborn rhinos (39) are of the critically endangered eastern black rhino subspecies. Apart from the rhinos, about 250 giraffes, 800 zebras and over 4,250 antelopes have been born in the zoo so far. The zoo currently breeds over 40 species of large African ungulates, some of them in various subspecies. All of them – about 700 individuals in total – are of known genetic origin. The zoo also supports in situ projects aimed at returning animals to their natural habitats. In 2009, the zoo collaborated with its partners to transfer four northern white rhinos – perhaps the world’s most endangered mammal today – to Africa in hope to prompt their breeding.

About the Mkomazi National Park:

The Mkomazi National Park is a spectacular wilderness in northern Tanzania. Within sight to the northwest is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest summit of Africa. To the south, the Pare and Usumbara Mountains form a dramatic backdrop and, to the north, Kenyan vast Tsavo National Park shares a border with Mkomazi, making common ground for migratory herds of elephant, oryx and zebra during the wet season. Together with Tsavo, it forms one of the largest and most important protected ecosystems on Earth. It is a classic dry-country reserve of grey-green nyika bush, ancient baobab trees and isolated rocky hills. Giraffe, oryx, gerenuk, hartebeest, lesser kudu, eland, impala and Grants gazelle share the reserve with elephant, buffalo, and numerous predators, including lion, leopard and cheetah. By 1988, Mkomazi was in steep decline. But then Tanzania Government invited legendary conservationist Tony Fitzjohn and his supporting George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust to work with them on a program of habitat restoration and the reintroduction of endangered species. The captive-breeding program for the African Wild Dog has been established, and a rhino sanctuary has been constructed and stocked. The result has been one of spectacular success. One of the most fragile, threatened and beautiful parts of Africa has been reborn.